INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark felt that something special could be coming before the Indiana Fever tipped off against the Seattle Storm on Friday night.
Some nights, Clark said, she knows she might “have it” before the game even starts. This was one of them. She wanted to be aggressive early. She knew her team needed brilliance with center/forward Aliyah Boston sidelined. There was a challenge, and Clark felt ready to step in.
“She seemed lighter,” Fever head coach Stephanie White said of Clark’s pregame disposition. “She seemed positive. She seemed bouncy. I think she felt good.” White then noticed during the game that Clark’s balance, in particular, felt better — especially on her shots.
So what did it mean for a light, bouncy Clark to have “it”? Forty-five points. Ten assists. Four steals. Two blocks. And an incalculable spirit that lifted her team, as the Fever were plus-16 when Clark was in the game in a 110-107 victory.
“Just greatness right here, you know what I mean?” Fever forward Makayla Timpson said of Clark postgame. “She does some crazy stuff out there.”
Clark’s outing did not start the way most magical scoring nights do. Early on, she was a facilitator, helping the offense go without Boston. In the first six minutes and 45 seconds, Clark had five assists. Four of them went to guard Kelsey Mitchell, who scored 17 first-quarter points. The other went to forward Monique Billings, who also stepped up in a major way with 16 total points.
After the first quarter, Clark had 5 points and five assists. Being on pace for a 20-point, 20-assist performance is special. Yet that might have been Clark’s worst quarter.
The second quarter is where Clark’s aforementioned aggression arrived and really popped. One powerful drive here, another bold three there. She was drilling shots and drawing fouls, and the Storm couldn’t stop her.
“I was able to get to the free-throw line a lot,” Clark said. “It’s easy to see the ball go through [the basket]. I was able to draw some fouls.”
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The Fever star entered Friday’s game averaging 19.7 points and 7.7 assists per game. At halftime against Seattle, she had 19 points and six assists, meaning she was trending toward doubling her averages.
But in many ways, her second half was even better. And it was a good thing for the Fever, because even after they led 49-32 in the second quarter, their lead was completely gone by the end of the third frame.
The Fever’s defense fell apart in the third quarter and the Storm shot 13-for-15, but Clark kept them within striking distance. She had 10 points and scored or assisted on over half of Indiana’s points in the period.
“We trust her so much,” Timpson said.
That trust is why the Fever were largely calm despite being down 94-86 with 5:42 to go. That’s a lot of game time, especially with Clark having a dazzling night. At that moment, Clark had 31 points and eight assists.
In the next two minutes, Clark scored twice and had another assist, helping the Fever trim the deficit to 2. From a morale and momentum standpoint, those were big buckets. She also tied her career high in scoring with 35 points.
Then, with 2:23 to go and the Storm up by 4, she set a new career-best mark with a monster 32-foot 3-pointer. The logo three that she has become so known for felt like the perfect bucket to do it.
The crowd was rocking. Clark was amped, frequently celebrating with her teammates and the fans after huge baskets. That’s when she is feeling her best — when she’s busting a team up and feeding off of fans.
Clark eclipsed 40 points in the middle of her best sequence of the game, which came in the final minute. The score was tied at 102 when Timpson threw a bad pass with 58 seconds to go. Rookie Flau’jae Johnson was racing ahead for a layup. But trailing her was a determined Clark.
Clark made it back in time to swipe down on the ball, knocking it off of Johnson and out of bounds. That gave the Fever possession and gave Clark a chance to push her team ahead for the first time since there were about three minutes left in the third quarter.
The Storm sent defensive pressure her way, but Clark kept her dribble alive. She drove left, then took a 26-foot side-step three with 39 seconds to go. All net.
Clark, in her own words, “freestyled” the play. “That’s kind of what I did. [Johnson] made a couple of good plays on the ball, got a couple deflections, and then I kind of got her out of position a little bit,” Clark said. “Then [I] was able to step back to my left. And it went in, so that was nice.”
That gave the Fever a lead they’d never relinquish. Clark reached 41 points on that shot, tying the franchise record for points in a game. And she did all that after a magnificent defensive play, something she is not known for.
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The Storm had to foul Clark two more times to stop the clock. She made all four free throws and was more than ready to face late pressure. That got her to 45 points, marking the 12th time a player has reached that total in WNBA history.
She’s the first of the 12 to have 10 assists in the same game. Clark’s offensive load was massive. And she was the first to reach 45 points in under 30 minutes. The previous low was New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart at 30:14 in 2023. Clark played 29:28 on Friday.
Entering the game, Clark had a minutes restriction that was near 25. But she was never coming out of this game late.
“They would get an earful,” Clark said of White and the training staff had they subbed her out at her planned minutes limit.
Clark made six threes in the game, nearly as many as Seattle’s entire team (eight). She attempted and made more foul shots than the Storm, going 17-for-19 from the line. She got fouled a ton, then punished Seattle from deep.
“Early in the game, she was attacking the rim. She’s getting to the free-throw line. That loosens the defense up,” White explained. “So late in the game, they’re going to be loose, they’re going to be on her heels. And that’s when she gets those incredible threes.”
Before Clark’s postgame press conference began, a Fever official stood off to the side and rattled off several of her statistical accomplishments. The franchise record for points in a game. First 40 and 10 game in WNBA history. Fastest player in Fever history to reach 200 made threes. Fourth-most point-assist double-doubles in WNBA history.
Clark accomplished all that on Friday, the same night she tied for the ninth-most points in a single WNBA game ever. She and Mitchell combined for 75 points, the most ever by a Fever duo.
Clark’s historic night overshadowed Mitchell’s 30-point game. And Timpson’s eight offensive rebounds tied for the eighth-most by an Indiana player ever. Friday was a busy night for whoever has to rewrite the Fever record books.
They’re going to spend a lot of time putting Clark’s name in there after her dominant night. And Clark, who has battled injuries and was clearly emotional about her successful night just after the final buzzer, had known it was possible pregame.
“I feel like you just have to believe you’re gonna have those types of nights, and you have to visualize having those types of nights. And I feel like that’s what I did,” Clark said.
“It’s not always going to go your way. … You can’t get discouraged. I know all the time and the work that I’ve put in, and people believe in me. And more than anything, I believe in myself.”
That self-assurance showed in an unforgettable, one-of-one performance.
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