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BROOKLYN — The Indiana Fever were unable to conclude their 11-game, 20-day marathon of an opening to the 2024 season unscathed. In the fourth quarter of the Fever's 104-68 defeat at the hands of the New York Liberty Sunday evening, back-to-back No. 1 picks Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston exited the game for the locker room. For Clark, the issue was related to her ear. For Boston, it was her ankle.
An update beyond that was not available directly after the contest.
“I haven’t had a chance to get with (the athletic trainer) yet,” head coach Christie Sides said afterward. “He was still evaluating them when I went back there… But that's all… I don’t know anything other than that.”
Fever teammate Kelsey Mitchell strolled into the postgame press conference in good spirits in spite of the 36-point thrashing, though she had ice taped around her ankle. The veteran confirmed that it was only precautionary and that players are doing what they can to heal for their next game on Friday. Mitchell led all scorers Sunday with 21 points, making an efficient nine baskets.
Both Mitchell and NaLyssa Smith smirked at each other when they were asked what they look forward to the most over the next four days where they wouldn't play. Smith said to sleep in and Mitchell backed that up. After all, the team hasn't gotten to do that in some time. Pregame Sunday, Sides said the whole team slept on the plane to New York after beating the Chicago Sky on Saturday.
That was Indiana’s first home win of the season, by the way. But no celebrations. The Fever had their second back-to-back game scheduling in 10 days.
Fever’s schedule doesn’t do them any favors
Sunday marked the third time the Fever have played last year's WNBA runner-up. Two-thirds have been at New York. The Fever played the Connecticut Sun and Seattle Storm twice so far, which both resulted in home-and-home sweeps. This gauntlet schedule and how frequently the Fever played it is an unfortunate double-whammy. Mitchell said the Fever have barely practiced.
“This isn’t a good matchup for us,” Sides said. “This is probably the worst team we could’ve played on a back-to-back –– for how we’re feeling, how our legs are. In the third [quarter] we made that run, we cut it to 12 we just weren’t able to sustain… that's a really, really, good team.”
The Fever gave up their then single-game most 102 points when they hosted the Liberty last May 16. Since, they've allowed 103 points at home to the Storm three games ago. Two games ago, the defense recuperated over the Sky in the 71-70 win, but signs of fatigue came back at New York. The Liberty led 55-37 at half and stretched their lead to 31 points by the end of the third.
Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston exit the game
With 5:30 to go in the fourth quarter, Aliyah Boston fell on top of an opposing player after they got tangled on an off-the-ball foul. That's where she looked to tweak her ankle. Boston limped off the court under her own power and went to the locker room, 15 seconds after she previously subbed in. Clark subbed in at the 7:42-mark and came out 73 seconds later and didn't return.
Caitlin Clark went to the locker room to get checked, but she came back to the bench eventually. By the time Boston went out, the Fever trailed by 30 points. Rookie guard Celeste Taylor and forward Victaria Saxton both played fewer than three minutes in the game. Smith and Mitchell played about 31 and 30 minutes, respectively, whereas Boston played about 26 and Clark about 29.
Clark shot 1-for-10 from the floor, resulting to a career-low three points. She had five assists.
“They wanted to fight,” Sides said of Boston's and Clark's fourth-quarter minutes. “They have pride too. They wanted to get in there and keep fighting… no dialogue, we just kept fighting.”
Fever HC Christie Sides on the reasoning for Caitlin Clark & Aliyah Boston playing in the middle of the 4th down by 20+ (they soon exited after with apparent injuries): “They wanted to fight.”
Full clip: pic.twitter.com/znYoY5SdID
— Matthew Byrne (@MatthewByrne1) June 3, 2024
The Fever — 2-9 and 1-1 in the Commissioner's Cup standings — play at the Washington Mystics Friday. The good news is they have considerable time for both of the apparent injuries to heal.
