RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from CBS Sports — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 3 sources
The second half of July was a historic one for Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark, who registered her fourth career triple-double in a 112-98 win over the Portland Fire on Friday, helping lead her team to its fifth consecutive victory. She has now tied New York Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu for third on the all-time triple-double list, trailing only Alyssa Thomas (20) and Jessica Shepard (5).
She picked up 26 points on Friday on 5-of-9 shooting (14-of-17 on free throws), along with 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 2 steals. In the process, Clark became the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 1,500 points and 500 assists, achieving it in 78 games.
Clark started the first two weeks of July going just 3-for-19 from beyond the arc. However, she bounced back from that shooting slump and has had a strong five-game stretch that began with a career-high 45 points against Seattle on July 17 -- which was also the first time ever a WNBA player had 40+ points and 10+ assists in a single game.
"I didn't even recognize it until we got to the locker room. She can do all of those things," Fever coach Stephanie White said postgame. "And I think the area that she is continuing to get better in for us now is the defensive rebounding. She is always scoring and finding her open teammates and being able to facilitate.
"She actually made a comment to me in one game that the ball used to find her on the defensive end, and I said, 'Well, you gotta go find it now,' and I think she did a really good job of that. She has the potential to get that every game."
Caitlin Clark during our 5-game win streak: 26 PTS | 10 AST | 10 REB 32 PTS | 7 AST | 4 REB 27 PTS | 11 AST | 2 REB 17 PTS | 7 AST | 2 REB 45 PTS | 10 AST | 2 REB 😤😤 pic.twitter.com/HfDe7WMRMZ
The Fever have scored 100+ points in their last five games, extending the longest streak of 100-point games in WNBA history. Clark has been a key part of it, and so has Kelsey Mitchell, who has scored 20 or more points in 13 consecutive games, tying Diana Taurasi for the second-longest such streak in WNBA history.
The Fever have improved to 19-10 overall and are currently No. 4 in the league standings. However, their hot streak will be tested on Sunday when they face the top-ranked Minnesota Lynx. While their recent form is impressive, their schedule has been forgiving lately.
Two of their five wins in the streak were against the Seattle Storm, the team in last place with a 6-25 overall record. Another one was against the Connecticut Sun, who are in second-to-last place with a 7-22 overall record. New York, 16-13 overall, has a talented roster, but the Liberty are struggling this season and right now are barely making the playoffs as the No. 8 team. Meanwhile, Portland is two spots below with a losing 10-18 record.
Sunday is a good opportunity for the Fever to really make a statement. It will be the first meeting between Indiana and Minnesota this season, which sets up an exciting battle between Clark and Minnesota rookie Olivia Miles, two of the most electric point guards in the league. Notably, they never played against each other in college, so this first meeting will be must-watch television. The game is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. ET and will be available on ABC.
Fever guard Sophie Cunningham has gone viral for her comments against transgender participation in women's sports, which led to rallies in support of her views ahead of the games against Seattle and Portland. While the Fever organization claims the team, including Cunningham, didn't have "any knowledge" when the first rally was organized, the team continues to face questions about the topic as the rallies multiply. However, Cunningham said she doesn't think it is becoming a distraction.
"I think at the end of the day, I come in and I do my job," Cunningham said. "I think everyone who knows me personally, they know that I'm full of love. I'm bubbly. I love the people around me. I love basketball. I love inspiring the next generation and doing that in a positive light. And so that doesn't even cross my mind. Doesn't cross my teammates' minds.
Meanwhile, White admitted there is a level of "frustration" because ideally the focus would be on basketball, but she also acknowledged that this could be a growth moment for the league.
"There is a frustration, of course, because we want to talk about basketball and we want to continue to work on our game, and we want to continue to grow as a team," White said.
"But I also understand, like this is part of our growth edge as a league, right? We have to be able to insulate as much as we can, and then we have to be able to lead with conversation."
There is another rally planned ahead of the Lynx game on Sunday. The Fever have not made Clark available for post-game press since the rallies began, despite her phenomenal play.
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.