There was considerable anticipation surrounding Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever's first game back since the WNBA took an extended break to accommodate for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Clark and the Fever were set to face a huge test against the Phoenix Mercury, a team with three players representing Team USA in Paris in Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, and Kahleah Copper. In the end, it was Fever came out on top, 98-89, after leading for much of the game.
It quickly became apparent that the Fever were raring to go and start off the second half of the WNBA season on the best note possible. They started off the game scorching the nets and running the Mercury off the floor as they took a 33-16 lead after 10 minutes of game time. Even Clark, who finished with a 29-point, 10-assist masterclass, felt a bit winded due to the breakneck pace her team played.
“I called for a sub six minutes in, if I’m being honest. I was like, holy cow,” Clark recalled in her postgame presser, via Matthew Byrne, Fever reporter for ClutchPoints. “We were playing fast and my defense wasn't as good, so [I was] kind of a liability for my team. Just need a minute to breathe.”
If Caitlin Clark wasn't still in tip-top shape despite performing the way she did, then that is a terrifying sight for WNBA defenders. This just means that, as Clark's conditioning improves, these games should come by more easily for her. And as the Fever guard said, she recognizes just how hard her teammates push each other in practice which makes getting back into top condition that much more straightforward.
“Getting back in game shape has been pretty easy. We've been competing really hard in practice. … We've just been scrimmaging. That's the best way to stay in basketball shape — just play live basketball. But obviously, it's really hard to replicate a real game. So it felt good to get back out there,” Clark added.
Caitlin Clark, Fever hold off a furious Mercury comeback
The Fever looked like they had the game won by the first half; things only got better for them in the second quarter after taking a 17-point lead following the first 10 minutes of the game. Their lead grew to as many as 28 points, with Erica Wheeler's triple with 5:57 left in the quarter giving them a 48-20 lead.
However, the Mercury don't know when to quit; they have the experience to weather any form of adversity, and that's exactly what they did. They cut the Fever's lead back to 17 points before the second quarter ended, and then they carried over this momentum towards the third quarter. On the 2:42 mark of the third period, a triple from Kahleah Copper gave the Mercury a 62-61 lead.
But the Fever showed poise beyond their years, thanks in large part to the edge Kelsey Mitchell gave as she stood tall in a tiff with Mercury guard Natasha Cloud. The Mercury's physicality seemed to awaken the Fever, and Indiana promptly took a lead that they wouldn't relinquish in the next possession before securing a 98-89 victory.
The Fever, after a suboptimal start to the 2024 season, are currently sitting in a playoff spot with a 12-15 record. They are improving rapidly from game to game, mirroring the rapid development of Caitlin Clark into one of the best players in the association.
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