Rust was not an issue for Caitlin Clark on Saturday afternoon, as she returned from a five-game absence in style to help the Indiana Fever defeat the New York Liberty, 102-88. Clark finished with 32 points, eight rebounds and nine assists, and tied her career-high with seven 3-pointers, as the Fever handed the reigning champions their first loss of the season.
"[Fever coach Stephanie White] got me a couple of breathers. I feel strong, I felt good," Clark said of her first game in three weeks. "I thought we played a good game. I thought there was a lot we can still improve on, which is really positive for us. But that's how the Fever are supposed to play basketball: uptempo, unselfish, working for your teammates, so really proud of our group."
The Liberty were on fire early and needed less than five minutes to build a double-digit lead. Their advantage wouldn't last long, however, as Clark led the Fever back into the game with a barrage of 3-pointers late in the first quarter. The Fever then pulled ahead in the second quarter to take the lead at the half.
It was all Liberty coming out of the break, and they scored the first nine points of the second half to retake the lead. Once again, however, the Fever had a response. They scored the next 19 points to take the lead for good. The Liberty fought back to briefly make things interesting again early in the fourth, but could get no closer than three points, as Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston closed the show for the Fever.
With the win, the Fever improved to 5-5 on the season, while the Liberty fell to 9-1. Here are some key takeaways:
Clark shows no signs of rust
Prior to this three-week absence, Clark had not missed a game since high school, and had played in 185 consecutive games dating back to her freshman season at Iowa. Everyone was curious about how she would respond after the first extended absence of her career. Would she pick up where she left off? Or would she need a few games to get back into a rhythm?
It turned out to be the former. Clark was incredible, particularly in the first half. Her barrage of 3-pointers late in the first quarter was one of the best moments of her professional career to date, and she had the Fever's offense back on track immediately. There were no issues getting clean looks with Clark operating the offense.
"I thought we did a really good job getting the ball into the paint and then kicking it out, which you know, percentage-wise it goes up way more," Clark said. "I'm really proud of our group. I thought we got high percentage looks. When they are wide open it's much easier to knock them down. So just really unselfish and it let to a lot of really good shots for us."
Clark finished with 32 points, eight rebounds and nine assists, and went 7 of 14 from 3-point range. Her 25 points in the first half were the most she's scored in a single half in her career, her 32 points were a new season high and her seven 3s tied a career high. Not a bad way to return from injury.
Mitchell and Boston dominate the fourth quarter
It was the Caitlin Clark show in the first half, and neither Kelsey Mitchell nor Aliyah Boston were making much of an impact. That all changed in the fourth quarter, however, as Mitchell and Boston stepped up to dominate the final frame and ensure that the Fever walked away with a much-needed victory.
Early in the fourth, the Liberty cut the deficit to just three points. The Fever responded with an immediate 8-0 run conducted by Mitchell and Boston to push their advantage back to double digits. It would not fall below that mark the rest of the game. Together, Mitchell and Boston either scored or assisted on 20 of the Fever's 22 points in the fourth quarter.
MItchell finished the day with 22 points, 10 of which came in the fourth, while Boston put up 10 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in a strong all-around effort.
Liberty can't overcome absences of Jones and Fiebich
Earlier this week, the Liberty announced that starting forward Leonie Fiebich was temporarily leaving the team to join Germany for EuroBasket Women, which will run from June 18-29. Shortly before the game, star center Jonquel Jones was ruled out with an ankle injury that occurred in their June 5 win over the Washington Mystics.
The Liberty could still beat most teams without Jones and Fiebich, but not the Fever -- especially not when Clark had it locked on automatic.
"Without Leo and JJ, that was tough for us, but credit to Indiana," Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. "We had our moments... but they executed well. We had breakdowns on defense, and they made shots."
Sabrina Ionescu went off for 34 points, while Breanna Stewart had 24 in a strong outing herself, but no one else on the Liberty had more than 10 points, and their defense was nowhere near as sharp without Jones and Fiebich. The good news for the Liberty is that Jones isn't expected to miss extended time and Fiebich will only be gone for a few weeks.
While the reigning champions will be frustrated about losing their first game of the season, this game wasn't fully representative of their abilities.
