For the second time this season, three of the top seven picks in April’s WNBA Draft — Caitlin Clark, Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese — share the court. And for the second time, the Indiana Fever came out with the victory.
The Fever won 91-83 behind 23 points from Caitlin Clark, who shot 7 of 11 with three 3-pointers. She also added 9 assists and 8 rebounds. Aliyah Boston scored 19 points to go with 14 rebounds and 5 blocks.
The Sky were paced by Marina Mabrey’s 22 points, while Angel Reese added 11 points and 13 rebounds despite being plagued by fouls. One of her fouls became buzz-worthy after she hit Clark in the head while going for a block, and referees quickly upgraded it to a flagrant foul.
The chippiness in the game was reminiscent of the first meeting.
On June 1, Clark and the Fever prevailed 71-70 in a game eventually dominated by the discussion over a hard foul by Chennedy Carter.
Chicago falls to 4-9, while Indiana improves to 5-10.
“She’s having a tremendous season, she’s played great basketball in my eyes and is probably in first place for Sixth Player of the Year, she’s been great off the bench for them,” Clark said.
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Caitlin Clark says Chennedy Carter doesn’t owe her an apology: ‘Basketball is competitive, I get it’
Joe Vardon· Senior Writer, NBA
Adam Silver on Caitlin Clark treatment: ‘It’s generating tremendous additional interest’
BOSTON — The hard fouls. The taunts. The apparent jealousy, developing rivalry and real discussions of race and sex in women’s basketball.
All of those things are a part of WNBA rookie and, let’s face it, superstar Caitlin Clark’s first few weeks in the league, and NBA commissioner Adam Silver said most of it “can be ultimately good for the sport.”
“As a fan, it’s nothing new in basketball that there’s sort of ‘welcome to the league’ moments, especially for heralded rookies,” Silver said during his annual pre-Finals news conference last week in response to questions about Clark, whose WNBA debut has sparked enormous interest.
The NBA, which Silver leads, owns the WNBA, and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert reports to Silver.
“Of course, I want to see Caitlin treated fairly and appropriately in the league,” Silver said. “I would say it seems like she can take care of herself. She’s a tough player.
“I think ultimately this is very healthy for women’s basketball in the WNBA. It’s generating tremendous additional interest. In fairness to the other players and in fairness to commissioner Engelbert, this didn’t just start this year.”
Silver continued: “Certainly we are seeing an acceleration of it with Caitlin, but there are many individual stars who came into this league over the last several years.”
