INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever dropped their second preseason game, 95-80, to the Dallas Wings on Thursday night. The Fever are now 1-1 in the preseason after a 109-91 win over the New York Liberty last week.
Fever guard Caitlin Clark led all scorers with 21 points in 16 minutes, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a bad second quarter.
The Fever were without two projected starters in Aliyah Boston (lower leg) and Lexie Hull (hamstring), as well as a projected rotational player in Ty Harris (knee). Fever coach Steph White said she hoped to get the three of them minutes in the Fever’s third and final preseason game on Saturday against Nigeria.
Here are three observations:
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Dismal second quarter exposes defensive lapses
Indiana was finding a rhythm in the first 10 minutes. Clark had 14 first-quarter points, the Fever were getting some stops and came out of it with a 3-point lead.
It all changed in the second quarter. The Wings went on a 13-2 run over the first two minutes of the half, quickly flipping the game on its head as Fever head coach Steph White called an early timeout.
But a timeout didn’t stop the Wings’ momentum; they ended up scoring 22 points over the first four minutes of the quarter.
It eventually became a boulder the Fever couldn’t stop from rolling down the hill. The Wings found easy buckets through the Fever’s defensive lapses, including an undefended drive to the basket from Paige Bueckers and a wide-open 3-pointer from Alanna Smith.
Dallas ended up shooting 13-of-18 from the field in the second quarter, outscoring the Fever, who only shot 3-of-14, 36-17.
It’s only a preseason game, of course, but the second quarter featured most of what a regular rotation would be for both teams. Indiana didn’t mount much of a comeback, as starters for both teams sat most of the second half.
Caitlin Clark gets up limping, but recovers after flagrant
Gainbridge Fieldhouse went silent midway through the third quarter as Caitlin Clark got up from the floor limping on her left leg.
She had just landed on the foot of Wings forward Alanna Smith after a 3-point attempt, sending both of them sprawling to the ground. Clark got up and was heavily limping at first, but quickly recovered, waving off trainers as officials reviewed the play.
Smith’s foul was upgraded to a flagrant 1, and by that time, Clark was walking normally again with no visible limp. She walked over to the free-throw line, made two of her three shots, then checked out of the game for Raven Johnson.
She was briefly checked out by trainers at the end of the bench, but did not go back to the locker room. Still, her day was done after about 16 minutes of play, as she zipped her warmup jacket back on.
Mid-third quarter was the expected time for Clark to exit the game for good; she only played until the mid-third in the Fever’s preseason opener in New York, too. No starter played more than 20 minutes Thursday night.
Fever get first look at season-opener opponent
If there’s one positive coming out of the defensive lapses in the second quarter, the Fever know exactly what they need to fix when the Dallas Wings return in just over a week.
Indiana will play Dallas in the season-opener at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on May 9, taking on the last two No. 1 picks in Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers once again.
Bueckers had her way against the Fever on Thursday night, scoring 20 points in 20 minutes on 8-of-12 shooting (4-of-6 from 3-point range). Fudd was less of a threat, scoring four points on 2-of-7 shooting in 16 minutes of play.
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: Dismal second quarter dooms Indiana Fever in preseason loss to Dallas Wings
Reporting by Chloe Peterson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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