INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark was warming up for the second half when she realized something wasn’t right.
Clark, who had been feeling under the weather, ate some applesauce during halftime in hopes to give her and the Indiana Fever a jolt for the second half. She found out quickly, however, that the applesauce wasn’t sitting well in her stomach.
The Prime Video broadcasters saw her briefly leave the court during warmups for the second half, then throw up in a trash can before returning to the court.
But that puke-and-rally moment, she said, made her feel better than ever.
“I tried to eat some applesauce, and then it just came up, and then everything else in my stomach also came up,” Clark said following Indiana’s 83-71 win over Atlanta. “I thought it was gonna stay down, but then I found a trash can, thank God, and I haven’t puked that much in a very long time. But then I felt fine. I felt light, so I was running around feeling good in the second half.”
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Clark was visibly fatigued throughout the game, but she pushed through it for a sick game special: She played 31 minutes, scoring 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting along with seven rebounds and eight assists. On top of that, she was full-send on both ends of the floor, contributing to what was the most complete defensive game for the Fever so far this season.
She seemed like her usual self, passionately arguing with the refs when she didn’t agree with a call, energizing the crowd when the Fever were on a crucial run in the third quarter, and even raising her arms to the ceiling and pumping her first when she drew a foul late in the fourth.
“She was gassed, she was playing both ends, and she was doing a great job,” Fever coach Stephanie White said. “She was running the team, and when you lay it on the line, you get gassed.”
Even through an illness, she was a vital part of a desperately needed win for the Fever, who were coming off a winless road trip to the West Coast that included a dismal, 16-point loss to Portland.
Indiana had four days to sit with that loss. It was not only one that exposed a lot of defensive inefficiencies and things that didn’t work on the court, but one that had a lot of opinions, from social media and national media alike, surrounding a disagreement between White and Clark on the bench that went viral postgame.
It was something Clark and White had to come out against a couple days later — no, they said, there wasn’t a rift growing between them because of that disagreement, and no, there weren’t any cracks in the locker room. Still, those takes persisted, through to Indiana’s game against Atlanta on Thursday night.
“I think people always make up stories about where our locker room is, or what my teammates think, or what I think, or what our coaches think, but this group is connected, and we hadn’t been playing our best basketball,” Clark said. “Even though we played it for one game today, that doesn’t mean we are where we want to be. But it also shows what we’re capable of, what we can do, and I think it spoke a lot to the character of the people that we have on our team, in the locker room.”
Indiana urgently needed a reset, on the court and off. They found that in a complete defensive performance against Atlanta — something they have been lacking since the beginning of the season.
The Fever held the Dream to just 71 points, which is a season-best on the defensive end for Indiana and a season-low for Atlanta. The Dream shot just 34% from the field and 29% from 3-point range, with the Fever picking up six steals, seven blocks, and outrebounding Atlanta 35-30.
This was the win the Fever really needed, and they got it because of that connectedness in the locker room. Indiana is now 5-4, and 1-0 as they start Commissioner’s Cup play.
And above all, Clark hopes this win quiets the noise she’s been hearing over the past week.
“I’m gonna say this in the nicest way possible, but hopefully it makes a lot of people be quiet,” Clark said. “I know there’s always going to be conversation, and I totally respect that, but the sky is not falling.”
Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at chloe.peterson@indystar.com or follow her on X at @chloepeterson67. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter. Subscribe to IndyStar TV: Fever for in-depth analysis, behind-the-scenes coverage and more.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Caitlin Clark hopes win over Atlanta proves ‘the sky is not falling’ for Indiana Fever
Reporting by Chloe Peterson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Chloe Peterson, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
