The Indiana Fever beat the Wings for the second time this season, 102-83, in Indianapolis.
The spectacle of Game 1 of the WNBA’s Caitlin Clark vs. Paige Bueckers Era, fueled by the emergence of the game’s two youngest budding superstars, turned into an old-fashioned whoopin’ as the game got away from Bueckers’ Dallas Wings (6-16) in the second quarter on Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Turnovers mounted for the Wings in the third quarter after the Fever (11-10) raced to a huge lead with an immaculate offensive display in the second. Clark became just the second player in WNBA history to pile up 10 or more points, 10 or more assists and five or more steals multiple times in her career in the Fever’s 102-83 win.
Both Clark and Bueckers showed off their proficiency from way beyond the arc in the first quarter. Bueckers hit a 29-footer with 5:40 left in the frame to give the Wings an early 16-11 lead after Clark sunk a 27-footer on the Fever’s second possession of the game.
Clark, still on a minutes restriction (28 minutes, according to the national broadcast) in her third game back from a recent groin injury, wowed the Indianapolis crowd with a touchdown pass to a streaking Sophie Cunningham in transition after blocking a driving attempt from Dallas guard JJ Quinerly. She dropped the dime, her fourth of the game, with 6:54 left in the first half for the basket that put the Fever up 37-31 and forced a Wings timeout. Clark dished seven assists in the first half and finished with a game-high 13.
That touchdown pass was part of a 25-4 run through the middle of the second that saw Indiana’s lead grow to as big as 23 points, up 58-35 on Cunningham’s 3-pointer from the wing with 2:04 left in the first half, which came on a savvy find from Clark for her sixth assist of the game.
Bueckers’ second 3-ball (another deep one, from 31 feet away) of the game halted the run that saw Indiana shooting 15-for-18 in the first eight minutes of the second quarter, but only temporarily. Clark responded with her second from the left wing with 48 seconds to play before halftime and shouted to pump up the home crowd on her way back up the floor. At full strength, that’s just the kind of team the Fever are. You’re running with them, then you look up, and all of a sudden, they’re up 20 on you. They wield lethal firepower up and down the roster and the big shots come from every direction, inside and out.
Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images
Clark went down in a heap after Bueckers forced a miss with a rallying contest on Clark’s drive in transition with 5:45 left in the second quarter. Clark grimaced in discomfort on the Fever’s next offensive possession and exited the game midway through the second, still on schedule with her minutes restriction. She came back in late in the second.
Clark filled the stat sheet with 10 points, seven assists and three steals in the first half, while Bueckers tallied 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting for Dallas. Kelsey Mitchell and Natasha Howard quietly led all scorers in the first half with 13 points apiece on 12-of-14 shooting between them as the Fever sprinted to a 64-42 lead at the break. The Fever outscored the Wings 36-15 in the second, and their 64 points were the most scored by any team in any half this season.
The Clark-Bueckers 1-on-1 matchup never really materialized on the floor, as Clark worked over the defensive efforts of Quinerly and Aziaha James and got the ball out of her hands quickly when open teammates presented themselves. Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull hounded Bueckers as primary defenders on the other end.
Bueckers and Clark exchanged tough jumpers in the third quarter, but Indiana was already up by 25 points at that point. Clark scored 14 points, dished 13 assists and took away a career-high tying five steals in the rout, while Bueckers finished her 35 minutes with 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting for the Wings in the loss. Bueckers also turned the ball over four times on Sunday, after going off for 27 points in the teams’ first meeting of the season on June 27.
The objective spectator would have to score Round 1 of Clark-Bueckers in Clark’s favor, but another thing Sunday’s game underscored was that the Fever have a much more complete team around their superstar than the Wings have at this point. Aliyah Boston (17 points, 7-of-11 shooting) is a force to be reckoned with on the interior, Mitchell (20 points, 8-of-12 shooting) and Howard (18 points, 8-of-9 shooting) attacked the Dallas defense to shoot 16-of-21 from the field in the win, and sharpshooters Cunningham (13 points, five rebounds, 2-of-3 3-point shooting) and Hull (3 points) are always waiting along the wing for their open looks that come as a result of an offense that just doesn’t quit.
Wings’ guard Arike Ogunbowale went 0-for-10 from the field in her first game back from a thumb injury. Quinerly, who has recently emerged as the team’s starting point guard, was looked at for a potential rib injury in the third quarter but ultimately checked back into the game late in the frame. Li Yueru chipped in 16 points and five rebounds for the Wings, one game after piling up 18 points and 10 boards in Wednesday’s 87-76 loss at the Chicago Sky.
Bueckers, Clark, the Wings and the Fever will meet once more this season, on Aug. 1, in a game that was recently moved to American Airlines Center. The two teams’ first meeting of the year drew a Wings franchise record 20,409 attendance, though Clark sat out the matchup with her groin injury. Dallas returns home to face former Wing NaLyssa Smith and the Las Vegas Aces (10-11) on Wednesday at Arlington’s College Park Center.