Liberty Finally Falls in Caitlin Clark's Return
Already shorthanded, the New York Liberty had to deal with a case of Fever on Saturday afternoon.
Caitlin Clark's return was enough to counter a season-best showing from Sabrina Ionescu as the Indiana Fever dealt New York its first loss of the season by a 102-88 final at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. New York (9-1) played without Leone Fiebich (international duties) and Jonquel Jones as it endured the first loss of its championship defense.
Saturday marked a triumphant return for Clark, who returned from a five-game absence induced by a quad injury to score 32 points (most of its earned on a career-best seven three-pointers), nine assists, and eight rebounds. Ionescu led all scorers with 34 in defeat, setting her season-best on an 11-of-20 tally from the field.
Defensive lapses, however, spelled the Liberty's doom, as they gave up 100 points in a game for the first time since a July 2022 loss to Las Vegas. The streak of 101 games of allowing double figures was the longest in WNBA history, five ahead of the mark set by the late Miami Sol between 2000 and 2002.
New York jumped out to an early lead as their advantage summitted at 11 in the opening period thanks to a tally of 20 points in the paint that were enough to county a trio of triples from Clark. It was the best percentage of paint points the Liberty have had in a period this season as well as their third where they didn't sink a free throw.
Clark's early efforts proved contagious, as her early output from deep set the tone for her teammates. Indiana (5-5) took its first lead with a Clark triple, putbacks for Damiras Dontas and Lexie Hull, as well as a Kelsey Mitchell and-one. More contentional threes wound up winning the day for the Fever, which sank a franchise-record 16 from deep.
Ionescu's work, including a three-pointer that narrowed the halftime gap to one-possession just ahead of the buzzer, kept the Liberty lingering, as did a run of nine consecutive points to open the third. From there, however, the Fever embarked on a run of 19 straight points, and a tally of 25-3 overall, to open the lead to as wide as 16, effectively placing momentum in its corner for the rest of the game. Clark played a role in 17 of the Fever's 27 period points with four helpers and seven personal tallies.
Behind a late push from Ionescu and Breanna Stewart, including a one-sided advantage at the free throw line, the Liberty made things as close as three again just before the midway mark of the fourth. But clutch antics from Indiana's depth stars ultimately made the difference.
While Clark rested, Indiana put up a quick run of eight, featuring an Aliyah Boston and-one, and back-to-back second chance points for Mitchell. Clark returned with just under four minutes left and served up the helpers on de facto daggers, the latter coming on a Mitchell three that made a 15-point game just before the two minute mark.
Ionescu (4-of-10) and Marine Johannes (2-of-6) were responsible for all Liberty threes on the night, as all others were a combined 0-for-13 on a day where New York was less than 21 percent with an extra point on the line. Stewart put in 24 points, a good part of tally earned on 10-of-14 at the charity stripe.
Ionescu managed to make history on an otherwise tough day for New York, as he earned both the 2500th point and 900th assist of her WNBA career. In the latter department, she became the quickest to reach that landmark at 153 showings.
With the win, the Fever gained the inside edge on earning the Eastern Conference's berth in the Commissioner's Cup in-season competition. Mitchell wound up with 22 points while Boston overcame a slow start to post an 11-rebound, 10-point double-double. Returning alongside Clark, Sophie Cunningham was a plus-31 in 25 minutes of relief.
Having split the seasonal pair at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the Liberty and Fever will square off again in Brooklyn for two meetings in July. In the meantime, the Liberty will look to start a new winning streak on Tuesday when they host the Atlanta Dream in the final game of Commissioner's Cup pool play at Barclays Center (7 p.m. ET, WWOR).
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.