Poor defense spoils Caitlin Clark’s return as Fever fall to Wings
Clark returned after nearly 10 months away from regular-season action, but the Fever struggled defensively throughout. The Wings scored 107 and shot 59% from the field.
Caitlin Clark came out of the locker room for the second half looking to find her rhythm. She made a 3-pointer on their first possession, then another 90 seconds later.
She turned to run back on defense near the midcourt logo and gave a fist pump with her right arm like Tiger Woods chipping in from a bunker.
It had been a long time since she had played in a regular-season WNBA game — about 10 months. Her play with USA Basketball — two training camps and then being named MVP on the World Cup Qualifying Team — was huge because it gave her reassurance in herself and in her body. It was also key because it made the final two months of the offseason about next season rather than rehabbing.
“I feel good,” Clark said postgame. “Started off a little slow. I think, just the anxiety of the first game and trying to work through that. And but overall, I felt good, felt fast out there. Felt like I was literally a couple buckets away from putting together a really, really good game and helping us win.
“But our offense is obviously not the issue. We’re perfectly fine on offense. And there’s still so many things we can do better on that end of the floor.”
The Fever shot 51.9% (but only 7 for 24 from deep), won the inside game, and essentially broke even at the free-throw line — but they were on their heels defensively for most of the game in a 107-104 loss to the Dallas Wings.
The anticipation and excitement were all there. As usual, it was a sellout crowd of 17,274 — with only a few pockets of empty seats. The fans were loud, and the Fever needed the energy as they were outscored in three of four quarters and allowed the Wings to shoot a blistering 59% from the field.
At least five times, Clark gestured to the crowd to make some noise in an effort to make the comeback. It helps.
“We got to be more disciplined,” said head coach Stephanie White, “it’s the difference in their uncontested looks from three and our contested looks from three. Sometimes we were over rotated when we didn’t need to be. Sometimes we had coverage breakdowns unnecessarily.
“We’re hanging around, not going to the offensive boards, but not getting back in transition defense. We gave up a lot in transition. All correctable things … all detail-oriented things.”
The Fever elected to hold out starting forward Monique Billings after she suffered a right ankle sprain one week earlier in their preseason finale. She participated in portions of practice over the last two days, but with only one game over the next five days, the Fever are being cautious and taking advantage of the extra downtime.
