It hasn't exactly been the most "showcase" of a season for Caitlin Clark, who many, including me, had hoped/expected would really emerge as a massive force in her second season.
The rematch against the floundering Connecticut Sun was a big deal for the Fever, because the last time these two teams faced off against one another the only brawl I have ever seen in WNBA (and the only one I think that exists) happened after a game full of abusive fouls against the Fever.
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There was a lot of cheap shots going on in that game and it kind of made a case for the overhaul of referees in the league which I think, at least for now, has been resolved to some degree.
The biggest violation of the previous game though was probably when Marina Mabrey shoved Caitlin to the ground after the play that happened and nobody got sent off for that.
I like the WNBA, but just not enough to check the injury report for any team other than the Fever, so I was unaware that Marina Mabrey was not even going to play in this game because of, I believe it was a knee injury - whatever, it doesn't matter - she didn't play though and that was a shame because I think a lot of people were looking forward to seeing these two go head-to-head again.
But based on the parts of the game that I watched as well as the stats after the fact, this was yet again a rather lackluster game for Caitlin who went 4-14 overall and 1-7 from 3. They kept attempting to line Caitlin up for the long threes but I don't know what it is about that girl, when she misses several in a row she doesn't seem to be (lately) capable of pulling that back. She threw 3 turnovers early as well but we've just come to expect that of her and normally the amount of assists outweighs her rather high turnover rate.
Another shock was the fact that it was nearly the end of the 2nd quarter before Aliyah Boston scored any points from the field at all. The only real scoring threat from the Fever was Kelsey Mitchell and Natasha Howard.
This is great that they are showcasing that Indiana is not a "one person team" but if this is an overall strategy I don't think it is a very good one considering that the scores were almost level after the first half.
This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that Connecticut only has 3 wins the season and 19 losses. The Fever have no good reason why this game should even be close.
Caitlin did a good job controlling the point and getting passes off to other players who opened up for runs at the basket, but these were not plays necessarily created by Clark. She only had 7 assists for the night which for anyone else in the league is a good stat, but not for Caitlin it isn't.
The reliable players for Indiana tonight were the aforementioned Kelsey Mitchel and Natasha Howard as well as Sophie Cunningham who nailed 2 out of 3 3-point shots.
The kind of scary news for Indiana fans is that since her return, Caitlin Clark has been averaging 13 points a game. Her shooting percentages in all field goals is pretty terrible since mid June at less than 30%.
Is the Indiana coaching staff attempting to mix things up a bit or is CC just ice cold right now? She seems to have lost her confidence in shooting and particularly from 3 point range.
I hope they can turn it around because I think I speak for a lot of people when I say the games are significantly less interesting to watch when Clark is missing more often than she is making shots.
The end score of Indiana vs. Connecticut was 85-77 so a win's a win I suppose but here is the worse news. It seems as though Caitlin has been re-injured and it is doubtful that she will play on the 16th vs New York. She is currently listed at GTD, which means "game time decision" so we will not know if she is going to play or not until the game starts!