Caitlin Clark had ups and downs in her final tuneup before the WNBA regular season kicks off.
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Fever top overall pick Caitlin Clark ripped through the lane with about seven minutes to go in Thursday night’s first quarter. Clark, who led the Fever in scoring with 21 points on May 3 in the team’s WNBA preseason opener at Dallas, scored her first unofficial points at home in Gainbridge Fieldhouse versus the Atlanta Dream. Clark had 12 points, eight rebounds, and also six assists.
Clark’s night was solid in the 83-80 win. She was two rebounds and four assists away from what could’ve been her first triple-double in the WNBA before the regular season even begins next week.
But her night had its flaws.
Caitlin Clark turned the ball over six times and also shot an inefficient 4-for-12 from the field. She shot 2-for-9 beyond the arc, which was worse than her 5-for-13 3-point debut.
In the 76-79 loss at Dallas last week, Clark hit four 3-pointers in the first half alone, yet fizzled out in endurance and went 1-for-5 across the final 20 minutes. Versus the Dream Thursday in front of Fever fans for the first time in action, it was the opposite for the rookie. Clark missed all four of her 3-point attempts in the opening frame and sank her lone attempt of the second quarter.
“They’re pressuring me fullcourt, they’re physical with me coming off of screens,” Clark said postgame. “It’s going to be hard to get some clean looks, I got a few of them. I think early in the game I rushed a few threes, but they’re still good looks and they felt good, and that’s really all you can ask. But still, it’s nice. Like, you can just turn to the rest of your teammates who are finishing really well.”
But with 2:45 to go in the first, she scored coast-to-coast through four Dream defenders.
Meanwhile, she dished out assists with four in the first quarter and two in the second.
“I don’t think I was that effective, honestly,” Clark said frankly. “I thought more than anything I did a really good job of passing the ball, finding my teammates on open rolls, slips. I found [Katie] Lou [Samuelson] a couple of times for a couple threes. I don’t know. I mean, I think I got in the paint. Obviously, I would have liked to make a couple more threes, but sometimes that’s how you shoot it … it was fun to get back out there and we really responded after a slow start.”
Teammate NaLyssa Smith, with now back-to-back 20-point games, followed up Clark’s answer.
“Gonna piggyback and say she was effective,” Smith said. “Pushing the ball, getting paint touches, a lot of assists for us. Everyone’s gonna focus on the scoring aspect, but she’s getting her teammates open. She’s getting us open shots and letting us get to the rim. So, everybody’s so focused on her, it’s giving us open opportunities and she’s passing the hell out of the ball.”
Following Indiana’s one-possession win, Caitlin Clark and former Iowa teammate Gabbie Marshall posed for photos courtside. Clark said it was special. Marshall is someone Clark started beside for years at Iowa and has also been one of her best friends through college. Clark admitted it’s strange not to be teammates on the court, but it was fun seeing Marshall’s smile in attendance. Marshall was one of 13,028 fans at Gainbridge, which Clark said is unheard of in the preseason.
Indiana’s regular season opener is next Tuesday at the Connecticut Sun.
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