ESPN SAYS "ANGEL IS NO MATCH FOR CAITLIN CLARK" AFTER HER 31-PTS, 12-ASTS IN FEVER'S WIN OVER SKY!

hey lyns trying to run their win streak to eight games and Dallas taking on the wings pick it up third quarter here tonight Wings up six RK Oona in transition step back mid-range jumper knocks it down Wings go up eight trying to get into playoff position looking for a third straight win oan B leading the break to Matty seis fancy pass from ogan Bo one of her eight assists Wings up nine going into the fourth quarter early fourth they're up eight drives into the double team then kicks it out to satu sa Wings up 11 then later they're up 16 Natasha Howard with the steal sabali three the hard way she had 18 points eight rebounds six assist Wings in full control they extend the lead to 18 and then H Bali for three more 25 points eight assists four boards Wings win at 9476 Thea ker 17 and 10 but not enough Atlanta and Vegas to two-time reigning champ Aces struggling having lost five of seven entering Friday second quarter aces up three Asia Wilson with the turnaround jay make it aces up five later in the quarter Aces still on top six-point game Asia Wilson pops it in close out the half up 4438 early third quarter same score Tiffany Hayes creates some space knocks down the triple pays all kinds of fired up it's a nine-point lead now now it's five off the inbounds pass to Wilson cash fourth quarter let's go Wilson driving stops and pops and it drops she had 26 16 boards five blocks and five assists for 2,000th career Rebound in there as well Tiffany Hayes at 20 and 10 Aces loving the w 8372 k you missed it earlier Caitlyn Clark in the fever in Chicago Clark came to play against Angel Ree and Company their fourth meeting this season fever won two of the first three first quarter though they're down 13 Clark to Kelsey Mitchell fever down 11 23 for Mitchell six consecutive 20-point game Clark with a three-pointer to tied at 26 second quarter tied at 33 Clark to Mitchell again fever up two then later in the second Clark 15 points five assists and a half for the fifth time this season that's most in the W about a minute left in the half Sky down seven Angel Reese SW out with 10 points 11 rebounds 23rd double double of the season that's the most ever by a rookie fourth quarter fever up 16 Clark to Aaliyah Boston and Boston's knocking that down that's Clark's 10th assist couple minutes later Clark Five of nine from three and she puts a fever up 22 later in the fourth after a flagrant foul Clark heads to the line makes her first shot that gives her 30 points she becomes a third player in WNBA history with 30 points 10 assists and five three-pointers in a game Clark finished with a career high 31 under two to play here's Reese getting that double double she passes Tina Charles for the most in the season by a rookie second most in the season in WNBA history but it's the fever over the sky again 100 to 81 so the fever now of their last nine they're back to 500 as they are 16 and 16 remember they started the season 1-8 first time Indiana's been 500 or better in a season since 2022 snaps a streak of 103 straight games under 500 which is the third longest streak in WNBA history for more let's welcome in Andrea Carter Andrea Indiana's been among the wnba's best team since the break a far cry from the team that we saw start the season what have the fever figured out stay they figured out each other Caitlyn Clark talked about it after the game she said we're finally understanding each other the best dynamic duo right now has been Caitlyn Clark and Kelsey Mitchell coming out of this Olympic break watching those two play off of each other they look rested Kelsey Mitchell has been on fire Caitlyn Clark is scoring she's knocking down her threes and she's finding her teammates and the rest of the Indiana Fever go as those two go shout out to Angel ree for her double double record watching Caitlyn and Angel Break these rookie records has been phenomenal but when it comes to Indiana and Chicago Indiana is the more complete and together basketball team on both sides of the ball which makes them a dangerous team in the playoffs Chicago still fighting to hold on to that playoff spot what about the aces just two and four since the break entering Friday just 9- seven at home what did this win over a tough Atlanta team do for them this is a must win you know Atlanta's coming in they're going to be Scrappy they're going to play with a ton of energy Alicia gray and Ryan Howard and if you're the aces they were playing without their starter their versatile scorer Jackie young so they're going into the game knowing that they're missing Jackie knowing Atlanta is going to try and come with everything they've got and they get the win Asia Wilson who is the greatest MVP candidate we have seen all season long she had a dominant performance Tiffany Hayes stepped up and put up big time numbers which is going to help the aces moving forward so this was a solid win and one that they needed and they can build off of meanwhile the team at the top of the standings Del Liberty coming off a head scratcher a lost to the Sparks on Wednesday but they get the win in Seattle what you think of that performance I was really impressed with this performance by the Liberty I want to give a lot of credit to Brianna Stewart and Sabrina yonescu they combined for over 50 points and also were over 50% from the field together New York pulled together they hung tough they with stod a big Seattle run they were able to get a big win on the road Seattle is not an easy place to play so that's a big win for the liberty and now they get a few days off they don't play again until Thursday when they run it back with the storm this time in Brooklyn Andrea thank you for the time and the breakdown teams in the WNBA since the break coming into Friday at 4 And1 with wins over the Sun the storm and the Mercury all likely playoff teams Caitlyn Clark leads the league in assist per game Angel ree leads the league in rebounds per game Shaquille O'Neal is there the big spectator first quarter fever down six tamy benley forces a steel Clark ahead def fact vanle hits the layup plus the foul great pass from Clark fever down three after one though they started the season one and8 trying to get to 16 and 16 and Clark trying to get him there that's way out there and she knocks it down the tied at 26 and then how about three more she's feeling it fever up three later in the quarter fever up seven Clark pass the defender to the rack plus the foul and she says did that go in yeah yes it did as did the free throw fever up 10 Clark 8 of 14 from the floor under a minute to go in the half fever up five Aaliyah Boston to Clark who lays it in 15 points five assists in 11 consecutive games passing Diana terasi for the longest streak in WNBA history fever up five at the break in the second half they would start to put it away third quarter Clark assist Beyond The Arc knocking it down fired up after that one fever up nine fourth quarter they're up 16 Clark and Boston playing the two-woman game Clark finds Boston wide open she hits the jumper Clark's 10th assist seven points for Boston in the game 5 minutes left Clark another long three she was five for nine from way out there under four minutes ago fever up 25 Boston comes up with the steal ahead to Clark gets bumped by Diamond the shields the shields assessed with a flagrant one Clark would make both of her free throws she was 10 of 11 at the line career-high 31 on just 14 shots and the fever win at to 81 this was a big one for us it almost counts towards two when you're in the playoff race of like a loss and a win so um we knew it was a big one but also like we wanted to win the season series with them um that was kind of a focus point and last time we were here we were up 15 in the fourth quarter and kind of you know fumbled it away so I thought it was another opportunity for us to come in here and show what we're about and I thought we were really good and um honestly like I just had a lot of fun playing like I thought we played with a lot of Joy we're just tough to Guard we're just playing pretty basketball playing fluid basketball we're playing off one another we're just reading each other and that's not something other team can like Scout for like you don't know what we're going to do we don't know what we're going to do it just happens it's just basketball I think our confidence is you know at an all-time high of where it's been this all season Clark became the fifth player in WNBA history with 30 points and 10 assists in a game but just a third to do in regulations he joins Sabrina ycu and Diana terasi Clark now scoring or assisting on 36.8 points per game this season that's on Pace to become the second most in a season in WNBA history shout out to Angel Reese 23rd double double for her that's a rookie record but in a losing effort how about a tussle between a pair of top five teams the Liberty in the storm Brianna Stewart she familiar with the building Sabrina unesc in action as well tightly contested game less than 2 minutes left in the third quarter it's a four point game in yonescu hits the floater plus one onepoint game after the free throw now less than a minute to go top of the key Sabrina yeah 7471 Liberty at the end of the third in the fourth quarter same score bney Vander SLO slute to Stewie off the glass five-point game about seven minutes left and Stuart back in Seattle four of six All-Star appearances are first MVP for the storm so they've seen that sight a bunch ninth career 30p point five rebound five assist game second most all time passing Candace Parker Liberty up eight this point Sabrina going to drive and from the knee throws it up off the glass did not give up on the play she had 258 and8 as the Liberty win it 98 to 85 and I got to tell you one thing we ain't done with the w here on Sports Center Andrea Carter is going to join minutes later in the show to break down round four Clark V Reese 81 their largest margin of victory Of The Year Angel Reese 23rd double double of the season a rookie record 10 points 11 boards but Kelsey Mitchell was spectacular for the fever of 23 points Melissa Smith down low also 14- s great defense from Lexi h of course Chicago without their star guard Kennedy Carter time now to bring in CVS Sports NBA analist T Foster brasby to discuss the fever just handling the sky on Friday so Caitlyn as we talked about went off for a career high 31 Angel sets another record uh but the fever win this season series 3 to one what stood out to you the most from this game I really love the way that Indiana has figured out how to pick it up defensively I think one of the biggest criticisms that you could have had about this team when they met in June and all three of those previous matchups were in June is that they really didn't do the best of jobs defensively they were still allowing Angel to get off on the paint um in that third matchup angel had 25 points and 16 boards Kennedy Carter had 23 points she was attacking the basket um it was very difficult for them to get some pain presents from the defensive end tonight they very much have a paint presence on the defensive end um this fever team is really playing a a style of basketball that is dangerous as we look towards going into the postseason they were crashing the boards they were shooting the ball incredibly well they were really making it difficult I know that angel Reese has a double double but it was like last minute that she was able to notch that double double because they were giving her in camil Koso some some some some some trouble down their inside in the pain so I love what I'm seeing from this Indiana team as it relates to picking it up defensively so they're picking up defensively and that's something that Christy Sid has stressed before in the past and right now they're clicking on that end as well as on the offensive end but when it comes to Rookie of the Year I know it's gotten blown out of proportion so many times tarica um but who would you pick right now yeah right now I've got to give the edge to Caitlyn Clark I mean not only is she playing incredibly well but she's one of the Catalyst for her team playing incredibly well and I look at someone like Kelsey Mitchell who has been phenomenal since this season uh has returned from the Olympic break and one of the reasons that she's able to get open and play so well is because she has a true point guard and kitlin Clark who's done a great job of getting her the ball of drawing the of drawing the attention of creating some space allowing Kelsey Mitchell to really do what she does well and they figured out how to play with each other kayin Clark has honestly shown up and shown out since this Olympic break she has also taken the time to really understand her teammates their mannerisms their characteristics and it has allowed them them to play more in Rhythm at this moment I'm I am giving the edge to Caitlyn Clark in the Rookie of the Year race and games like tonight helped to make that case 100% yeah I'm with you I think kayln Clark deserved the Rookie of the Year W based on the way she's played especially in the second half of the season but also the tail end of that first half angel special season as well but when it comes to the fever and their postseason Outlook tarica they're right now in sixth place they hold the tiebreaker over the Mercury how far do you think they can go in the post season of course depending on who they get with that third seat well yeah it definitely does depend on what happens and who ends up where um you know I was on the call for that Indiana Connecticut game earlier in the week and it was a potential playoff preview at the time Connecticut held the the two seed at the time uh Indiana held the seven seed and so just getting a look at that was very scary um I think that this fever team um is hot at the right time I think they're clicking at the right time I think their chemistry is playing well into their favor and the good thing about it is that they have a couple more matchups that can really test them they've gotten some very convincing wins over some plus 500 teams and that's going to be great for your confidence as you are moving towards the playoff picture as it relates to Chicago however I don't know it's difficult to say whether or not they will remain in the playoff picture but I'm going to say yes and I'm going to say yes Chris only because I strongly believe that they have some matchups coming up here in this last final couple of weeks that can really tell the story one of which is against Atlanta and Atlanta is the team that is currently trying to fight for that number eight spot but I also want to say Washington is not mathematically eliminated and they're a team that you might want to keep your eye out on as we look towards down the stretch of who could be vying for that number eight spot so I'm 5050 on Chicago they're in there now Chris but I don't know for how long Caitlyn Clark is making history in her rookie season in the WNBA and despite ongoing criticism the Indiana Fever star continues to silence the doubters with increasingly impressive performances her latest Masterpiece came on Friday night against fellow rookie Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky the 22-year-old guard had the best scoring night of her young career dropping 31 points with five three-pointers 12 assists and four rebounds leading the Indiana Fever to a one 100 to 81 Road Victory Clark's Stellar performance Drew praise across social media from fellow athletes and various celebrities including arguably the greatest basketball player of all time LeBron James the Los Angeles Lakers star took to X formerly Twitter to call out Clark's critics with a simple yet powerful forword message Caitlyn Clark High haters LeBron James haeri King James this comment from James Jes who has faced his own share of baffling criticism throughout his NBA career is the highest praise any basketball player can receive Clark has led the fever to a 1616 record a vast Improvement for a team that went 1327 last season she has gone from being a front runner for the WNBA Rookie of the Year award to becoming a name worthy of serious consideration for MVP honors through 32 games Clark is averaging 18 .4 points 8.3 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game while she may not win the league MVP award this season Clark has certainly put the WNBA on notice that she's on the fast track to becoming a top candidate year in and year out moving forward if you enjoyed this analysis don't forget to like this video And subscribe to my channel sport news today fan for more updates and insights