Key occasions
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Halftime: Solar 49-39 Fever
Clark commits one other turnover. Carrington misses a heave on the buzzer.
Give credit score the place it’s due – this shouldn’t be about Clark and the Fever struggling. The Solar look good.
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Solar 48-39 Fever, 30.1 seconds, 2nd quarter
Temi Fagbenle knocks down a Connecticut defender and scores. I stated it within the final recreation I coated – I’ll by no means perceive why that’s authorized.
Indiana inbounds, makes a few fast passes, and Clark lastly hits a 3. Such a fast launch.
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Solar 48-33 Fever, 3:46, 2nd quarter
Clark spins previous Carrington and will get into the lane, and she or he will get clobbered. Ouch. She hits each free throws and now has 4 factors.
Bonner scores for Indiana, who simply can’t miss now.
Clark fires from the sting of the midcourt circle. Barely hits the rim.
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Solar 46-31 Fever, 1:55, 2nd quarter
Kelsey Mitchell hits two free throws for Indiana, however the Solar are … effectively, sizzling. Bonner solutions shortly.
Smith makes a layup for Indiana. Bonner scores once more.
Mitchell hits a jumper. Rachej Bannam hits a 3 for Connecticut.
The streak of profitable offensive possession ends with a … Clark turnover. DiJonai Carrington merely strips away the ball and hits a layup.
The group has lastly realized there are some folks not named Caitlin Clark on the market who can play, and so they’re taking part in for the house workforce. They roar to life, and Indiana calls timeout.
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Solar 37-25 Fever, 4:16, 2nd quarter
DiJonai Carrington continues her torrid second quarter with two free throws. She’s additionally guarding Clark, who remains to be searching for her first non-layup basket.
Katie Lou Samuelson, a WNBA veteran who’s returning after having a toddler, goes to the road for the Fever and solutions with two.
Carrington hits an extended 3. That’s 12 factors for her.
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Solar 32-23 Fever, 5:24, 2nd quarter
FINALLY … Clark thinks about pulling up for 3, and extra importantly, makes her defender suppose she’s pulling up for 3. Clark simply drives previous for a layup and will get the primary factors of her WNBA profession.
Then Boston picks up her third foul.
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Solar 32-21 Fever, 6:37, 2nd quarter
Smith hits two free throws for Indiana. Connecticut misses on the different finish, and Carrington – who has dominated the second quarter – fouls Clark in transition.
Boston finds Mitchell making a backdoor minimize, and Indiana is inside seven.
Jones scores for Connecticut because the shot clock hits zero.
Boston picks up her second foul, becoming a member of Clark in foul hassle.
In case you’re simply tuning in – Clark has 0 factors and a pair of fouls. And three turnovers.
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Up to date at 20.13 EDT
Solar 28-17 Fever, 7:29, 2nd quarter
Aliyah Boston and Grace Berger spark a 4-0 mini-run for the Fever, and the Solar put up an airball, solely to seize the free ball and rating.
Clark has one other turnover, and the Solar rating in transition.
Berger flings the ball to no person specifically, and the Solar get the ball again.
Clark lastly places up her fourth shot of the sport, a medium-long 3. It clanks off the rim. She’s visibly annoyed now.
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Up to date at 20.13 EDT
Solar 22-13 Fever, 9:44, 2nd quarter
Clark re-entered the sport for the final possession of the primary quarter.
ESPN talks with Indiana coach Christie Sides, who shakes her head and laments foolish fouls and missed free throws. Whereas they chat, DiJonai Carrington makes a layup for Connecticut and is fouled. She makes the free throw, and the lead is 9.
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Solar 19-13 Fever, finish 1st quarter
Kelsey Mitchell makes an excellent minimize to the basket and takes a feed from Boston, drawing the foul. She hits considered one of two free throws.
A sputtering sequence of free throws and dangerous photographs brings us to the top of the primary quarter. Not what the league would need to see whereas everybody’s paying consideration.
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Up to date at 20.09 EDT
Solar 17-12 Fever, 1:26, 1st quarter
The group’s vitality has waned significantly. Have we talked about that the Solar are the house workforce?
Indiana has an awesome defensive sequence, forcing the Solar right into a layup that Boston swats away. Kristy Wallace hits a 3, however Tyasha Harris hits her third of the primary quarter to place the Solar’s lead at 5.
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Up to date at 19.55 EDT
Solar 13-9 Fever, 3:46, 1st quarter
Clark sits on the bench after the timeout. Smith scores for Indiana, however Harris hits a 3 for the Solar.
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Up to date at 19.51 EDT
Solar 10-7 Fever, 4:51, 1st quarter
Clark now has two fouls and no factors. She does have one help and will simply have three if her teammates had accomplished a bit higher together with her passes.
Now a turnover from Clark, and we’ll go into the TV timeout.
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Up to date at 19.51 EDT
Solar 10-7 Fever, 5:39, 1st quarter
Lovely cross from Clark – however the end isn’t there.
NaLyssa Smith hits a 3 on the subsequent Indiana possession, although. DeWanna Bonner scores for Connecticut.
Clark goes behind the again to Boston … who known as for touring.
Tyasha Harris provides the Solar the lead. Bonner extends it.
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Up to date at 19.50 EDT
Solar 3-4 Fever, 8:00, 1st quarter
Clark’s first shot is a kind of wild layups she generally tried at Iowa. And generally hit. However not this time. On the subsequent possession, she misses one other one.
Alyssa Thomas will get the Solar’s first three factors – two on a layup, after which considered one of two free throws on the subsequent possession.
Clark will get an open look from the 3-point line and … misses. She’s 0-for-3.
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Up to date at 19.41 EDT
Solar 0-2 Fever, 9:21, 1st quarter
The tipoff is someway botched. They struggle once more, the tip goes straight to … Caitlin Clark.
She will get her first WNBA help on a nifty bounce cross to Boston.
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This can certainly shock nobody: Caitlin Clark is within the beginning lineup.
Tipoff any second now.
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Tipoff in … 3-4 minutes?
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Additionally on ESPN2 or Disney+ or whichever department of the Disney household you’re selecting to look at – the second recreation tonight will function the Phoenix Mercury (Brittney Griner, Diana Taurasi) in opposition to the two-time defending champs and heavy favourite for the threepeat, the Las Vegas Aces, that includes nationwide workforce stalwarts A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Grey.
Sadly, Griner’s out with a toe harm. Nonetheless a recreation to look at.
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Tonight’s matchup
Whereas the Fever are on the way in which up, maybe there wasn’t a lot farther down they might go from two years in the past, what in regards to the Solar?
Connecticut has at all times been a reasonably good place for girls’s basketball. Being a proud Duke graduate, that’s all I’ll concede on the matter.
Whereas most WNBA groups are related to NBA groups, the Solar are owned by the Mohegan tribe. The title derives from the Mohegan Solar on line casino, the place the workforce performs. (Properly, in an enviornment adjoining it. They don’t run a zone protection amid the slot machines.)
They have been finalists in 2019, shedding to Washington, and 2022, shedding to Las Vegas in an all-casino matchup. Final 12 months, they misplaced within the convention finals to the New York Liberty, who’re led by the final ladies’s faculty phenom to interrupt into the general public consciousness, Sabrina Ionescu.
Main scorer Alyssa Thomas returns for her eleventh WNBA season. An intriguing addition is Queen Egbo, the 2022 WNBA rookie of the 12 months … for Indiana. She spent a part of final season with Washington earlier than shifting to Connecticut.
They don’t have a extremely touted rookie, to place it mildly. Their first-round draft decide, Leila Lacan, determined to stay in Europe.
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Caitlin the champion?
For many who don’t know the way US professional sports activities work – Clark didn’t supply her companies to the very best bidder or the most effective membership as she would in Europe. Groups that don’t make the playoffs within the WNBA (as within the NBA) are positioned in a weighted lottery. The winner this 12 months – the Indiana Fever.
How’d they do final 12 months? They have been 13-27. That was an enchancment over the 5-31 report the 12 months earlier than.
However the Fever have some good younger gamers. After 27-year-old veteran Kelsey Mitchell, the subsequent two main scorers final 12 months have been 6-foot-5 rookie middle (from South Carolina) Aliyah Boston and NaLyssa Smith, who was in her second 12 months.
Nonetheless, will that be sufficient to get the Fever into the playoffs, not to mention a deep run within the postseason? Our Guardian panel says no:
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Anybody bear in mind the ABL? No?
The American Basketball League launched in 1996, earlier than the WNBA. The ABL supplied gamers more cash. The WNBA supplied extra advertising and a schedule that didn’t go head-to-head with the NBA and faculty basketball.
Now, virtually 30 years later, the highlight is on Caitlin Clark. But it surely’s additionally on the league itself, simply because the highlight was on MLS when it signed David Beckham – and even on the NBA itself when Magic Johnson and Larry Chicken stepped into the league after seizing middle stage within the 1979 NCAA closing.
Can the league capitalize on the star energy of Clark – and different gifted gamers working their approach right into a league that doesn’t have a lot area for rookies?
We gained’t get any solutions tonight. We’ll simply have a enjoyable basketball recreation to look at. Take pleasure in.
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Our writers on the season forward for Caitlin Clark
Caitlin Clark is …
A phenomenon, who should be given the grace to regulate. The Indiana Fever should acclimate to utilising the area Clark creates, slightly than relying solely on her to orchestrate performs. Gamers comparable to NaLyssa Smith, Temi Fagbenle and Aliyah Boston will play pivotal roles in transitioning the ball for Clark, and may increase their very own particular person statistics as opponents concentrate on containing Clark’s offensive risk. Yara El-Shaboury
Underneath a glare like no participant earlier than her. The all-time scoring chief in main faculty basketball historical past is the bandleader of a sensational rookie class that has recalibrated all expectations for the way ladies’s sports activities may be coated, commercialized and consumed. It additionally ensures a precipitous studying curve in a cutthroat league the place veterans have been famously unsparing on newcomers. Clark will probably be going through the most effective efforts on a nightly foundation from opponents trying to draft off her unprecedented attain. Bryan Graham
A rising tide that lifts all boats, however she’s additionally in for an adjustment. I don’t solely imply the common transitions rookies undergo entering into competitors in opposition to seasoned professionals, and the rhythms of a W season, however the stardom that’s going to form her world. She had a glimpse of it at Iowa, however faculty was a bubble for her. This stage goes to be a lot totally different and I hope the Fever have an excellent buffer plan in place. Katie Heidl
Making herself proper at dwelling, placing up threes with a lot the identical abandon she did at Iowa. It’ll be attention-grabbing to see if she’ll be capable of decide her spots at will as soon as the video games depend and the competitors stiffens. However I anticipate her to boost the usual in Indiana in a lot the identical approach as New York’s Sabrina Ionescu did in her 2020 debut. Andrew Lawrence
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How you can watch Caitlin Clark’s WNBA debut with the Indiana Fever
Beau will probably be right here shortly. Within the meantime, right here’s extra data on tonight’s recreation:
Begin time: Caitlin Clark’s WNBA debut for the Indiana Fever will begin at 7.30pm ET in opposition to the Connecticut Solar at Mohegan Solar Enviornment.
The place to look at: The sport may be seen on ESPN2, ESPN+ and Disney+
There has additionally been widespread dialogue of the comparatively low wage Clark will earn as an WNBA participant, notably in comparison with her NBA counterparts. Andrew Lawrence broke down the incomes – and the arguments – for us this week:
You too can get our full WNBA season predictions right here:
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