After nearly a month off, superstar rookie guard Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever are back and will continue their quest for a WNBA playoff spot when they host the Phoenix Mercury on Friday.
The Fever (11-15) lost 101-93 to the Dallas Wings in their final game before the Summer Olympics break. Indiana had won their two games prior to the Dallas loss, beating the Mercury and Minnesota Lynx.
Before the break, Clark had 10 assists and four points in her first WNBA All-Star game, helping the WNBA All-Stars win the U.S. Olympic Team. Two of her Fever teammates, Kelsey Mitchell and Aaliyah Boston, were also All-Stars. Mitchell had 13 points and Boston had four.
Next year’s All-Star Game will be held in Indianapolis, where Clark and his teammates will star in front of their home fans.
But that’s still a long way off, as the Fever are now rejuvenated after their recent Olympic break and looking to make the playoffs.
“I think the Olympic break definitely helps a team like us that hasn’t played together in a long time,” Fever guard Erica Wheeler said, “being able to practice, really run, practice really hard and then have some time off, I think that’s really important.”
Added Fever forward Narissa Smith: “It meant a lot to us. It’s time to work on ourselves. We need to work on the little things like defense and offensive rebounding.”
Clark is averaging 17.1 points and a league-leading 8.2 assists while shooting 32.7 percent from the 3-point line. The Olympic break gave Clark some breathing room, playing her final collegiate game on April 7 and making her WNBA preseason debut on May 3. Essentially, the rookie has played almost nonstop since November.
Speaking of rest, the Mercury’s three Olympians didn’t get much of a break. Diana Taurasi, Kalia Copper and Brittney Griner are playing just their second game since returning from France with Team USA’s eighth consecutive gold medal. Thanks to Copper’s 29 points, the Mercury (14-12) beat the host Chicago Sky 85-65 on Thursday in their WNBA return match.
“The exciting thing for us and for her is she’s in the prime of her career,” first-year Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said of Copper.
Copper played key minutes in the fourth quarter and made the winning free throws to help Team USA win the gold medal against France. She ranks second in the WNBA in scoring this season with 23.4 points per game.
“That’s what Kerr does,” Taurasi said of Copper, “She’s competed for us all year and we knew when the going got tough she would always do the opposite. She can do things that no one else can do on our team, on the national team or here at the Mercury.”
–Field Level Media
