Caitlin Clark heats up in second half, but Fever lose to Aces again

INDIANAPOLIS — In the most competitive game of the season series, the Indiana Fever dropped its second straight game to the Las Vegas Aces, 78-74, on Friday night.

The Fever are now 19-19 on the season, sitting at sixth place in the playoff picture.

Insider:Fever can ‘take something’ from back-to-back losses vs. defending champs

More:Teams want to take away Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell. Aliyah Boston will ‘have to be ready.’

Here are three observations:

Fever swept for first time this season

With the Aces’ 4-0 sweep over the Fever this season, Las Vegas is officially the only team the Fever have not beaten this season. For a team that won five games just two years ago, though, the Fever have improved immensely to only be swept by the back-to-back reigning WNBA champions.

Especially as the last game of the series came to fouls on Friday night. The Fever got within one point late in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get over the hump.

The Fever avoided a sweep over the league-leading New York Liberty in July, giving the Liberty one of its six losses on the season. Indiana also avoided being swept against third-place Connecticut and fifth-place Seattle, while winning the first game of their series against second-place Minnesota.

Caitlin Clark breaks single-season assists record

In an unusual night, Caitlin Clark didn’t have any points at halftime. In a night fraught with a technical foul in the first quarter and three personal fouls by the two-minute mark of the second, Clark only played 14 minutes in the first half and took just five shots.

But she made those first-half minutes could by setting up her teammates.

Clark racked up six assists in her 14 minutes on the court, and her fifth one was a record-breaker. She inbounded the ball to Kelsey Mitchell after a foul, and Mitchell laid it in for Clark’s 317th assist of the season — a new WNBA single-season record. It broke Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas’ previous record of 316, set in 2023.

Coming into this season, the Fever rookie has always said she prefers to set up her own teammates. Her court vision is unmatched, even making the jump from the college ranks to professional basketball. But usually, her scoring hasn’t wavered with that court vision — she still averages 17.8 points per game.

And she showed that in the second half. She picked up 14 points in the third quarter alone, shooting 6-of-9 in that quarter.

Fever work through physical game, Clark called for technical

In the first of this back-to-back against the Aces on Wednesday, the Fever struggled to get into a flow because of seemingly constant fouls. The Fever prefer to play up-tempo, transition basketball, and whistles got into the way of that.

It was the same story in the first half Friday, as the Fever and Aces were called for eight fouls each in the first half. Three of those went to Clark, forcing the Fever rookie to sit.

Clark also picked up her sixth technical of the season, as she hit the stanchion in frustration over her second personal foul. Clark has been given a technical foul for hitting the stanchion once before, but it’s also something she’s done throughout the season that hasn’t been subject to a tech. That puts Clark one away from a one-game suspension if she were to pick one up before the end of the regular season.

Other than fouls, there were multiple other stoppages; Fever center Aliyah Boston was elbowed in the face, and she had to go to the locker room for a bit (she eventually returned to the game). Later in the second quarter, Boston and Aces guard Chelsea Gray fought heavily for a ball that was eventually called a jump. Erica Wheeler also had a hit to the face in the third quarter, but she walked it off.

Kelsey Mitchell was the only reason the Fever stayed in the game in the first half, going into halftime down by just eight; Mitchell had 19 of the Fever’s points, while no other player had more than five.

The Fever eventually found their grove in the third quarter, able to play the tempo offense that has been successful for most of the season. In that quarter, they outscored the Aces 22-17.

How many points did Caitlin Clark score against the Aces?

Caitlin Clark finished with 18 points — all in the second half. She shot 7-of-18 from the floor (2-of-8 from 3) and flirted with another triple-double, finishing with nine assists and eight rebounds.