Chelsea Gray Punished Caitlin Clark’s Mistakes

It is a funny twist of fate that the Indiana Fever have become such an engine for maddening WNBA storylines that have little or nothing to do with their actual on-court performances, because those performances are crazy-making enough on their own. Are the Fever a great team capable of melting any opponent in front of them, or a bunch of chumps who can’t defend the paint to save their lives? Is Caitlin Clark one of the most dynamic guards in the league, or a bozo who can’t stop turning it over and coming up short in big moments? Will this team ever be normal? These are the questions that have defined the Fever’s season, and on Thursday night the usual set of answers presented themselves: Yes, yes, yes, yes, and no.

The Fever lost to the Aces, 86-84, in an overtime thriller that presented the best and worst versions of both teams. For most of the first half, it looked like the Fever were on their way to recreating the 109-75 beatdown they handed the Aces back on July 12, which preceded a 13-point loss to the Valkyries that was followed by a five-game winning streak in which the Fever scored at least 100 points in every game. The whiplash carried over into Thursday’s game, which started with the Fever running out to a 42-22 lead with four minutes left to play in the first half. A’ja Wilson was having trouble getting to her spots, the Fever were playing fast, and Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston couldn’t miss. And then Indiana fell into bozo mode.

Over the final four minutes of the half, Clark, Mitchell, and Boston combined to go 0-5 from the field while Clark turned the ball over three times. This helped the Aces finish the half on a 15-0 run, and by the time both teams headed to their locker rooms Vegas was only down by five. The Aces continued to put the squeeze on in the third quarter, outscoring the Fever 19-9; with 6:16 left to play in the fourth, they had build a nine-point lead.