INDIANAPOLIS — While in many ways it felt like any other week for the Indiana Fever, star guard Caitlin Clark had an eight-day stretch that was anything but regular.
A new on-court focus is changing her production and helping the Fever win. A new signature shoe on her feet is changing her life. And in between, Clark crossed a games-played barrier that shows the impact of her off-court work that is helping her be on the court more often.
On Tuesday, the Fever hosted the Toronto Tempo and defeated the expansion franchise in a 22-point win while swatting away some concerning trends in the process. Clark had a productive game with a season-high 14 assists.
The passing and the winning were nice. Clark being on the floor was also noteworthy: in 2025, she played 13 total games and never played more than five in a row. When Indiana hosted Toronto, Clark reached that 13-game mark for 2026, and it was her ninth-consecutive appearance. That number has now reached 11.
Last season, Clark battled quad and groin issues, then an ankle injury that ended her season early. This year, she’s missed just one game so far with a back injury and has been listening to her body more often. Health has become more of a priority.
When Clark was asked about reaching the same number of games played as last season, she made a fist and lightly tapped the table in front of her. It was a signal: Knock on wood. She doesn’t want to jinx anything.
“It’s crazy to think I only played 13 games last year,” Clark began. “Just really thankful for all the people that have poured into me… Fever medical staff and then my own people that I have too. It just takes a lot of discipline to be able to do this at a really high level. This is a very physical league. You have to be able to take care of your body and prioritize your body. That’s something I definitely do.”
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Clark feels that she has gained confidence in her body as the season has progressed. It’s not a linear climb, some days are better than others. There’s some general soreness, but Clark shared that she’s gotten better at ignoring it and remaining confident.
“She’s been disciplined,” head coach Stephanie White said. White praised Clark’s work getting to know her body and responding to how she is feeling at a given moment — and, in turn, not pushing it when she feels soreness or pain. “She’s attacked that process like she does everything else: With a high attention to detail. Going all in. I feel like over the last three or four games, she’s really looked like herself.”
White described Clark’s movement patterns, explosiveness, and speed as things she has noticed trending well. Those things seem clear watching Clark from afar, too, and the stats tell the same story. In Clark’s last five games, she’s averaging an unmatched 26 points and 8.6 assists per game. The Fever have gone 3-2, though they’ve lost twice in a row to Atlanta.
In that stretch, Clark has a 32-point game, a 14-assist game, and two double-doubles. She is playing quite well, though the star guard herself would admit that her turnovers need to be controlled and her efficiency could be a smidge better. Even still, her numbers have been great, and one tweak in her game stands out.
Clark is getting to the cup more than ever. Nekias Duncan of Yahoo Sports posted on social media that Clark drove to the basket 25 times in the Fever’s win over the Tempo, a career high at the time. Many of her 14 dimes came as a result of that rim pressure, and so did most of her 14 free throw attempts. Of the 53 individual performances in WNBA history with 14-plus assists, Clark’s big outing was just the fourth that came with 10+ attempted foul shots, per stathead (Ticha Penicheiro had 14 assists and 15 free throw attempts on July 1, 2000).
White and her staff track how effective the Fever’s offense is when the team gets a paint touch or ball reversal on a given possession. The numbers show that those actions have a positive effect on their scoring, which is a focus for everyone. And Clark, who is third in the league in usage and naturally has the ball a lot as a point guard, is the most important figure when it comes to getting a paint touch or keeping the ball moving to the other side of the floor.
“I think the best thing I can do is playmake for this team, and I think that starts by getting my feet in the paint,” Clark said. She pointed to high drag and step-up screens as actions that have helped her get toward the rim more often, and the Fever’s transition focus certainly helps. “That just puts their defense from duress right from the beginning and gets them into rotation… A lot of really good things happen when we get our feet in the paint.”
Of Clark’s shot attempts, 52.3% of them have been two-point looks this season, a career-high rate. The percentage of her points that came in transition is a career-high too, as is her percentage of points coming from the foul line. Her drives are leading to looks at the rim, free throws, and easier opportunities for teammates. What’s not to like?
The tradeoff is fewer threes, but there’s an important balance to strike. Clark can hit from anywhere, and just the threat of a deep jumper tilts opposing defenses. That’s why she still fires away, and Clark sits at 34.8% from long range across her last six outings. That’s better than her season and career averages — her changed shot diet and approach is leading to easier shots.
“Obviously, everybody loves the deep three,” Clark said of the interplay between her threes and drives. She’s mastering the balance of those two things and leveraging her jumper into better offense for her teammates.
Speaking of deep triples, Clark wore a hoodie to the Fever’s matchup against the Atlanta Dream on Thursday that said, “shoot more threes,” with the double-e in threes being replaced by her logo. She knows how exciting, and effective, her outside shot can be. It must remain a core part of her game, even as the drives become vital.
The star guard also debuted her first signature shoe on Thursday, the Caitlin 1. On the underfoot, there are three sayings: “Shoot More Threes”, “From Anywhere”, and “This Was Never A Long Shot”.
The release has been exciting for Clark. She said the signature sneakers feel good and she’s worn them a few times as she adjusts to a new in-game shoe. During warmups, she kept looking down at the blue on her feet, which was new behavior that faded away once the game actually started.
Clark said she didn’t sleep very well Tuesday night knowing that she would reveal the Caitlin 1’s to the world on social media the next day. She’s very proud of the work she’s done with Nike to release a product she is genuinely proud of.
“When I first got into the design process, I think I wanted it to be something that’s different, but also something that isn’t completely out of this world,” Clark said. Her goal was to balance performance and style, but in her own way.
The first colorway is blue, but there are many more expected to come with black and green already teased. They’ll be available for purchase come October 1.
“It’s really, really cool. I was never a kid that grew up thinking that this was going to be in the cards for me,” Clark said of having a signature shoe. She remembers her first pair of pink Jordans. “For myself to be able to have a signature shoe, and for young boys and young girls to be able to hopefully want to wear it and be able to put it on and dream… to achieve whatever you want, that’s what I hope people feel when they put the shoe on.”
Clark, who finished with 26 points and seven assists in the debut of the Caitlin 1, is still searching for her first win in the signature sneakers. But her new focus on her health will give her more chances to play in them while her offensive play-style shift is something the team believes will lead to more wins long term.
In those ways, it was a foundational week for Caitlin Clark.
“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is out now!
Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.
