Rusty Weiss
Caitlin Clark setting or tying rookie records is becoming a near-weekly occurrence. The Indiana guard is putting up numbers rarely seen from a first-year player.
That continued Monday night when she and the Fever took on the Atlanta Dream. Clark put up a decent stat line with 19 points, seven boards, and seven assists.
She did that all after rolling her ankle in the first quarter, which had fans holding their breath with concern that the superstar might have suffered a significant injury. But alas, all was well.
Clark popped off four three-pointers from downtown during the 84-79 win in front of a record crowd in Atlanta.
It was the last long-range dagger that had everybody talking.
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Caitlin Clark Makes History
With just over eight minutes left in the final quarter, Caitlin Clark made history with a step-back three-pointer that gave the Fever a 73-61 lead at the time.
It was her 85th trey on the season, which ties a rookie record.
Making it even more remarkable is that Clark launched the bomb over the outstretched arms of number 10, Rhyne Howard.
Howard, who won Rookie of the Year herself back in 2022, was previously the sole record holder having hit 85 three-pointers back in 2022.
Tying a record with a shot directly over the previous record holder – you just can’t write a better script than that. And with ten games left on the schedule, it seems safe to predict she will go on to shatter Howard’s record.
Caitlin Clark with a stepback triple for her 4th of the night. She ties the #WNBA rookie record with 85#FeverRising pic.twitter.com/xzOeHPR4XO
— Ashwin (@Sudharsan_ak) August 27, 2024
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Fever Appear To Be Playoff Bound
Last night’s win for the Indiana Fever against the Dream was crucial for their playoff aspirations. With the victory, they sit at 14-16, good enough for the seventh seed.
Incidentally, those 14 wins are the most by this club since 2016.
Right now, the Fever are 3.5 games ahead of Atlanta in the standings.
The Dream are hovering around that 8th-seed, but if they should pull closer to Indiana in the standings over the last part of the season, Clark and her squad now own the tie-breaker.
Anything can happen in basketball, but having to scrap with Atlanta and the Chicago Sky for that last playoff spot seems unlikely. Indiana has a ton of momentum right now coming out of the Olympic break and even seems poised to reach .500 in the standings.
They’re just 1.5 games behind Phoenix now for the sixth seed.