2024-08-31 14:00:02
CHICAGO — That sound the Phoenix Mercury heard was Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever zooming past them in the playoff race.
Clark scored a season-high 31 points, one better than her previous mark, and the Fever moved up to sixth place in the eight-team playoff field with a 100-81 win over the Chicago Sky on Friday night. Though they have an identical 16-16 record as the Mercury, the tiebreak is head-to-head meetings and the Fever swept their three games against Phoenix this season.
“It’s honestly impressive how we started the season and, now, sitting at sixth place with eight games left,” Clark said, referring to Indiana’s 1-8 start. “But you have to continue to execute down the stretch.”
There is a lot of the season left, of course. But given how Indiana started the season, and the favorable schedule they have over the remaining three weeks, Clark and the Fever have to feel pretty good about where they stand. Only three of the Fever’s last eight games are against teams with winning records, and only two are on the road.
The Fever haven’t made the playoffs since 2016, when Clark was a freshman in high school.
While Clark and the Fever have played to sold-out crowds almost everywhere this season, Friday night’s game was something special. The rivalry between Clark’s Fever and Angel Reese’s Sky has developed into one of the WNBA’s best this season, and the interest reflected it.
WNBA legend Sue Bird and Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal were on hand, as were players from the Chicago Bulls and Bears. With an average price of $334 as of Thursday morning, it was the most expensive game in WNBA history, according to TickPick.
Knowing the interest there’d be for this game, the Sky used it to host the WNBA’s first Barbie-themed night.
But Clark and the Fever spoiled the party with their lopsided win. It was Indiana’s third victory in a row and fifth in its last six games. It also gave the Fever the season series over Chicago, having won three of their four meetings.
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