Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever saw their playoff lives come to an end on Wednesday night, with the veteran Connecticut Sun team taking care of the upstart, gunslinging squad in Game 2 of their first-round series, 87-81. The Fever, however, have no reason to hang their heads over this result. They still managed to surpass expectations, with Clark transforming the team and lifting them to respectability.
Despite their season-ending loss to the Sun, he Fever star became just the first player in WNBA history to average at least 18 points, five rebounds, 8.5 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game over the course of an entire series. The only other player to accomplish this feat across both the WNBA and NBA, according to Clark Report on X, formerly known as Twitter, is Michael Jordan, which is pretty elite company to say the least.
Clark, who had a rough Game 1, has shown time and time again that there is no kind of adversity that would keep her down for long. Like a 10-year veteran, the Fever guard has the memory of a goldfish, as she always gives it her all and doesn't allow past events to snowball into her present. In Game 2, Clark led the way for the Fever with 25 points, six rebounds, and nine assists on 10-23 shooting from the field, and most importantly, she only turned the ball over thrice (below her season average).
This was a nice bounce-back performance from her 11-point, eight-assist Game 1 in which she shot a rather poor 4-17 from the field. And in redeeming herself, she achieved for herself a nice piece of history.
Of course, it's important to note that WNBA first-round series are only best of three. The Sun dispatched of the Fever rather easily in Game 1, 93-69, and then in Game 2, Connecticut withstood a much better effort from Indiana, which meant that Caitlin Clark's season was over just like that.
Perhaps it's a bit disingenuous to compare Clark to Jordan given the difference in the required number of games to get through a playoff series. But one would have to say that the Fever guard's ability to rack up stats is top-notch, and it won't be long before it translates to postseason success.
A retrospective of Caitlin Clark and the Fever's 2024 season
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Caitlin Clark's cultural impact cannot be overstated. She has drawn plenty of viewers for the WNBA, and she has done that an unprecedented level. The WNBA has gone mainstream, and it's thanks in large part to her marketability.
But she also backs up that marketability with supreme skill, transforming the Fever from a perennial lottery team to a playoff contender over the course of a season. Clark has gone through her fair share of growing pains, with the Fever struggling to begin the 2024 season, but she has gotten more and more comfortable playing against the veterans of the game and she has proven that she doesn't just belong, she's there to stay at the top of the WNBA totem pole.
Only 22 years of age, Clark has already set multiple WNBA records, including the assist record that she is likely to break in the future especially when she cuts her turnover problems. Clark should also make the Fever an attractive destination for free agents, which would allow the team to build a legitimate title-contending squad moving forward.
