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Indiana Fever wins 4th straight, Caitlin Clark gets to 100 assists
ATLANTA — The Indiana Fever renaissance continues with a fourth-straight win Friday night time, taking down the Atlanta Dream, 91-79, at State Farm Area in downtown Atlanta on Friday night time.
The Fever (7-10) have received 4 straight for the primary time since 2015, and have received six of their previous eight video games.
Listed below are three observations:
Insider:Fever have not misplaced since Christie Sides benched 4 starters 2 weeks in the past. What modified?
Caitlin Clark hears cheers in all places.‘Aside from the IU followers, they’re fairly loopy.’
Fever win 4 straight video games for first time since 2015
On Friday, with three straight wins underneath their belt, the Fever wanted only one extra to interrupt a nine-year mark. At a sold-out crowd of 17,575 at State Farm Area, they obtained it.
The Fever have now received 4 video games in a row for the primary time since Tamika Catchings was an lively participant and Stephanie White was Indiana’s coach. It was the final yr the Fever went to the WNBA Finals because the No. 3 seed within the East, falling to the Minnesota Lynx.
Fever construct, then preserve lead
Indiana’s first half was shaping as much as be similar to final week’s sport in opposition to the Dream in Indianapolis. Indiana constructed a robust lead Friday night time in Atlanta, main 57-41 at halftime.
Final week, Indiana led by 15 factors, 49-44, at half — and so they nearly let the lead slip away. The Dream fought again, led by All-Star Rhyne Howard, to guide the Fever within the fourth quarter and almost steal a victory. It took a career-matching 27 factors from Aliyah Boston (10 within the fourth) for the Fever to tug out the win.
This time, Indiana did not let that occur. With Howard out with an ankle harm, the Fever stored distance from the Dream for the whole sport. Atlanta obtained inside 9 factors at one level within the third quarter, however the Fever then went on an 11-3 run to place the sport away.
4 starters — Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, and NaLyssa Smith — every scored in double figures for the third straight sport, and fellow starter Kristy Wallace added seven factors.
Smith led the Fever with 21 factors, whereas Boston completed with a double-double (10 factors and 10 rebounds).
Caitlin Clark eclipses 100 assists
Fever rookie Caitlin Clark is in good firm.
Her first help Friday night time, Clark eclipsed 100 on the season in simply 17 video games, tying her for third-fastest in WNBA historical past with Seattle Storm legend Sue Fowl. That help got here simply seconds into the sport — Clark handed the ball to a slicing Kelsey Mitchell, who simply scored a layup.
The Fever rookie has all the time maintained her passing is an underrated a part of her sport. The NCAA Division I all-time main scorer is thought for her emblem 3-point photographs and clean baskets, however she additionally has elite courtroom imaginative and prescient.
That passing additionally comes with dangers — Clark makes a speciality of behind-the-back, no-look, and cross-court passes, and people passes take time to be taught with new teammates. Clark at present averages 5.5 turnovers per sport and leads the league with 88, however these in-game turnovers have decreased as Clark realized her teammates and her teammates realized her fashion.
Clark completed Friday’s sport with seven turnovers in comparison with seven assists.
What number of factors did Caitlin Clark rating?
Clark scored 16 factors on 6-of-12 taking pictures from the sector (4-of-8 from 3) to associate with seven assists and three rebounds in opposition to the Dream.
