Caitlin Clark Makes WNBA History as Fever Force Game 3 Against Aces

Caitlin Clark had 14 points and 11 assists by halftime Tuesday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. No player had produced a points-assists double-double in the first half of a playoff game in WNBA history before that.

She finished with 27 points and 15 assists, and the Indiana Fever beat the Las Vegas Aces 99-89 in Game 2 of their best-of-three first-round series. The series is tied 1-1. Game 3 is Thursday in Las Vegas.

Clark also became the first player in league history with 25 points and 15 assists in a game, regular season or playoffs, ESPN reported. The 15 assists were a playoff career high.

She added seven rebounds and shot 9-of-18 from the field, 5-of-11 from 3-point range, and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.

Indiana led 48-43 at the break, and Clark spent part of it at a trash can. She apologized after the game, in a postgame availability reported by ESPN, to anyone who had been sitting near it.

"I think I was just really tired, and then sometimes I drink too much water," Clark said. "Not to be gross back, but like it's an incredible amount of throw up. So sorry to anybody that was sitting in the vicinity of that trash can."

Fifteen seconds after tip-off, Clark made a 29-foot 3-pointer. The whole locker room had been visualizing that shot going in, and she did not want to let anybody down.

"We diagrammed the first play in the locker room, and [Fever coach Stephanie White] told everybody I was gonna make it," Clark explained. "So I was just trying not to let everybody down because we were all visualizing that I was gonna make it. So, I needed to get the night started off right. ... Just staying aggressive."

Las Vegas closed the first quarter on a 9-2 run and opened the second with a 3-pointer for a 29-18 lead, the AP reported. Indiana outscored the Aces 30-17 in the second quarter.

White said guard Raven Johnson gave the Fever a lift off the bench. Johnson finished with six points on 3-of-5 shooting and was a plus-15.

The Fever pushed the lead to 69-54 late in the third quarter. Clark was on the bench with four fouls when the Aces started to answer.

In the fourth quarter, a Clark 3-pointer bounced in for an 87-77 lead. Her next shot was a 30-footer over A'ja Wilson, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year, and it put Indiana up 11.

Clark fouled out with 2:45 left and the Fever ahead 92-83. Las Vegas got within 92-87 with 2:11 remaining. Aliyah Boston answered with a basket, and Kelsey Mitchell closed it at the free-throw line, CBS Sports reported.

At one point, Clark threw an alley-oop to the 5-foot-8 Mitchell.

Clark scored or assisted on 58 points, which ESPN reported tied the most in a WNBA playoff game. Between her own baskets and her assists, she accounted for 24 of Indiana's 37 field goals, according to CBS Sports.

White said Clark's defensive energy was part of the night, along with the shooting and passing.

"I thought her energy [was great] from start to finish," White said. "I mean, a double-double in the first half, pretty incredible. The way that she moved the ball and attacked from multiple positions. You always expect her to be able to make shots and to facilitate. But I thought how she managed the game was really good. And her defensive energy I thought was terrific."

"It's what we need from her, night in and night out," White continued. "And she was the catalyst for us here tonight, and I think she's going to just take it to another level when we go Game 3 [on Thursday night in Las Vegas]."

Mitchell scored 26 points on 7-of-16 shooting and made nine of her 11 free throws. It was her fourth postseason 25-point game, tied for the second-most in franchise history, ESPN reported.

Boston had 22 points, four rebounds, and five assists on 10-of-15 shooting. It was her second career 20-point playoff game, according to ESPN.

In Game 1, she played through a lower leg injury and finished with 18 points and eight rebounds.

Clark, Mitchell, and Boston combined to score or assist on 89 points Tuesday. The Aces scored 89.

On Sunday, Wilson had 38 points and 16 rebounds on 15-of-19 shooting in a 102-85 Game 1 win for Las Vegas.

Wilson, Chelsea Gray, and Jackie Young scored 93 of the Aces' 102 points that day. Clark and Mitchell shot a combined 10-of-33.

Young had 31 points, four rebounds, and five assists in Game 2. She went 4-of-9 from 3-point range and 13-of-13 at the line.

Wilson finished with 22 points and nine rebounds on 5-of-11 shooting, with 12 of her points coming at the line. Gray had 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting and seven assists.

Aces coach Becky Hammon said she could not recall a strong one-on-one defensive possession from her team in Game 2 after seeing several in Game 1.

"We were just poor as a group defensively," Hammon said. "I thought we were a step behind all night."

"Caitlin got a couple rhythm looks. We left our feet a couple times. She got us in the air, but then she got down in the paint and continued to kind of slice and dice us," Hammon continued. "And you have to stay solid. You have to play great 1-on-1 defense. Where the other day I thought we had a lot of great 1-on-1 moments. I can't recall where I'm thinking, 'Oh, that was a really great 1-on-1 defensive play.'"

Indiana scored 58 points in the paint. Las Vegas scored 26. The Fever shot 52.1% from the field and 8-of-21 from 3-point range.

The Aces attempted 34 free throws, making 30. Indiana went 17-of-24. Hammon said she understood it was the playoffs.

"There was a lot of grabbing, hand-checking," Hammon explained. "I understand it's the playoffs, but it shouldn't turn into the NFL, either."

Las Vegas finished the regular season 31-13 as the No. 3 seed. Indiana went 28-16 and entered as the No. 6 seed.

The Fever beat the Aces 84-68 on July 5 and 109-75 on July 12, and Las Vegas won 86-84 in overtime in Indianapolis on Aug. 6.

The Aces are the defending champions. Last season, they eliminated Indiana in overtime of Game 5 of the semifinals and swept the Phoenix Mercury in the Finals. The AP named Wilson its WNBA Player of the Year for the third straight season on Sunday.

Game 3 is Thursday at Michelob Ultra Arena, with tip-off at 9 p.m. ET. The winner advances to the semifinals to face the winner of the Golden State Valkyries-Dallas Wings series. Golden State leads that series 1-0.