The Chicago Sky have yet to figure out the Indiana Fever. By the time they tip off Sunday at Wintrust Arena, the teams may be tired of each other. This will be their third encounter in four weeks and the second in eight days. And, after the Fever won the first two games, the Sky must return the favour in their first home game of the season.
The Clark challenge is steep. Caitlin Clark is averaging 16.2 points and 6.2 assists as she competes with Angel Reese for Rookie of the Year honours.
The guard has been the cornerstone of the Fever’s four-game winning streak, their first since 2015. And she’s the driving force behind the sellout crowd expected on Sunday, with courtside seats priced up to $1,450 as of Saturday. Clark wasn’t the main concern in the first encounter, as he scored 11 points and went 4-for-11 from the field on June 1. Her shooting improved in the second clash on Sunday, when she scored 23 points and assisted nine times.
While the Sky aren’t losing these games because of Clark’s dominant scoring numbers, every defensive strategy against the Fever starts with the star guard. The Sky have experimented with several 1-on-1 assignments for Clark defensively, but another Chennedy Carter matchup is expected on Sunday. As a squad, the defence will focus on two keys to slow Clark: Get the ball out of her hands and avoid fouling her when she gets to the rim.
Clark is still learning how to get to the free throw line in the WNBA, where she is ranked 17th in free throw attempts, but she took six in her most recent game against the Sky. But the Sky faces another significant barrier in shutting down Clark: her growing relationship with centre Aliyah Boston, who has found her groove after a rough start. Boston’s problems in the early weeks of the season were highlighted as the Fever suffered a losing run. But something started to click this month. Boston has averaged 18.4 points and 11.4 rebounds in its last five games, including 19 points against the Sky last weekend.
And her chemistry with Clark has finally began to ignite, delivering the Fever’s promised one-two punch. Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso, who needed minimal time to transition to the WNBA, often anchor the Sky’s frontcourt. The two have successfully established their presence on the offensive glass, ranking first (Reese, 4.9) and third (Cardoso, 3.1) in the league for cleanup points.
However, neither player has the seamless offensive connection with a guard that Clark has provided for Boston, resulting in dangerous pick-and-roll, spray-out, and dump-off combinations that can confuse defences.
While the Sky frontcourt should be well-positioned to defend against the combination, Reese and Cardoso are still not equipped to match that inside-out game on the opposite end of the court. While the Sky are creating connections between their guards and frontcourt, they must win games by focusing on other aspects of their offence, such as pushing the tempo in transition and guarding the ball in the half-court. Forcing the Fever into early errors will be critical. The Sky forced 16 turnovers in their last game, which was a critical output point for the offence.
Clark’s ball protection continues to be an issue, with an average turnover rate of 5.6. If the Sky can throw the Fever off balance early, their transition game will provide the downhill momentum needed to get Carter, Marina Mabrey, and the frontcourt going offensively. Finally, this clash has bigger stakes than the average regular-season game.
Part of the excitement stems from the stars at its centre, Clark and Reese, who were the top two rookies in the first round of All-Star voting and are still the subject of debate and discussion throughout the league. In the midst of rebuilding seasons centred around first-year stars, the Sky and Fever are poised to compete for one of the remaining playoff slots. The Sky are 5-9 entering Sunday, behind the Fever by a half-game for the final playoff place. It is still too early to worry about playoff standings. However, as the Sky strive to recover from a dip and return to.500, Sunday’s encounter will provide an opportunity to distance themselves from the league’s bottom third. To accomplish so, they’ll have to go through Clark.
