8 hours ago
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The Indiana Fever had a chance to complete a fourth-quarter, double-digit comeback with a potential buzzer-beater, but two shots did not fall.
Neither of those shots were taken by Caitlin Clark, who finished with 27 points. Thus, the Atlanta Dream escaped with a 91-90 victory.
Clark scored eight points in the fourth quarter, but she inbounded the ball with less than 10 seconds left and never touched the ball again.
Natasha Howard’s first shot was blocked, and then she hit a back-iron. Nia Coffey grabbed the rebound for the Dream, and they were able to run out the remainder of the clock.
Safe to say, fans were baffled by Clark not getting the final shot.
“Somebody needs to explain to me why Caitlin Clark inbounded that ball at end of the game,” Dave Portonoy, Barstool founder and huge Clark supporter, wrote on X.
“Shouldn’t it be in her hands to end it? The new crew needs to be way better. Caitlin and Aliyah were awesome. Lexi + Kelsey were good. All the new players kinda sucked.”
Head coach Stephanie White did offer an explanation, though it’s unclear whether it will have satisfied Portnoy.
“Initially, we tried to get the ball to [Aliyah Boston], but she was being chucked, so she couldn’t get there,” White said, per Scott Agness’ YouTube account. “[Natasha] was open.
“We probably should’ve called timeout in that situation. But I felt like Tash was due. She had a good look. She had two good looks, and that’s really all you can ask for in that situation.”
Indiana trailed, 44-42, at the half while Clark was on pace for a second triple-double in as many games this season. However, the Dream went on an 11-0 run, and it looked like all was over.
Trailing by 11 to start the fourth, Clark hit two deep 3-pointers and handed out a nifty behind-the-back assist to cut the deficit to four.
Indiana could not inch closer for several minutes but finally tied the game with just over a minute left. Aliyah Boston then went to the line with 21.7 seconds left and gave the Fever their first lead since they scored the first basket of the game.
However, Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard hit two free throws, the game-tying and winning shots, with 9.7 seconds left.
Clark finished with 27 points and 11 assists. It was the 10th 20-point, 10-assist game for Clark in her young career, tying Courtney Vandersloot’s WNBA record. Vandersloot has played in 430 games. Clark has played in just 42.
In two games, Clark is averaging 23.5 points and 10.5 assists.
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