After falling in her first five games as a professional player in the WNBA, Caitlin Clark was finally able to smile by offering a fairly complete performance on her first visit to play in Los Angeles.
Caitlin Clark, the woman who has revolutionized women’s basketball, flirted with a triple-double in the Indiana Fever’s 78-73 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena, which saw impressive fan attendance. , comprising a good number of celebrities.
The Sparks said the crowd of 19,103 is a franchise record as a home team. Obviously, that was due to the “Caitlin Clark effect,” who in the WNBA has been attracting huge amounts of fans just as she did in her historic college career playing with Iowa.
Clark had come to Los Angeles in April to receive the prestigious John Wooden Award. On that occasion, he gave an interview to La Opinión in which he explained that he did not feel additional pressure when going from college to professional basketball.
But while the arenas had been packed in Clark’s first games as a professional, the victories had not come for Indiana, a team that chose the 22-year-old guard with the first pick in the last WNBA Draft.
Clark’s arrival in the WNBA was immediately felt not only by the increased amount of attention and fans but also by the circuit’s decision to have teams travel on charter flights for all of their scheduled road games.
Caitlin Clark dedicated herself to distributing balls in Los Angeles
The Indiana team has gradually improved and this Friday it won for the first time after five losses, the last two in close games that were decided in the last seconds.
Against the Sparks (1-3), Clark struggled to find the basket, especially because LA did a very good job defensively. So the talented basketball player focused on being the point guard and not the shooter, showing that her passing ability is equally notable.
Clark distributed assists frequently and finished with 8, although it could have been at least twice as many had it not been for the fact that her teammates missed too many plays near the basket after spectacular passes from player No. 22.
Down 45-34 at halftime, the Fever was another team in the third quarter when they quickly cut the deficit, especially by playing better defense and taking advantage of countless turnovers by the home team.
Clark was held to just 5 points until the final minutes of the game and was unable to connect on any of her first seven three-point attempts, her specialty. But when the game was in the final stretch and the Sparks were trying to come from behind, Clark hit two long three-pointers that were crucial, the second of them making the score 76-71 with 40 seconds left in the game.
When the shots weren’t falling, Clark dedicated himself to adding rebounds, assists, and stealing balls. He finished with 11 points (4 of 14), 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals and 1 block in 37 minutes. He only committed 2 turnovers in a very complete performance.
Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 18 points, while for LA, Cameron Brink – the second pick in the Draft behind Clark – finished with 15 points and 9 rebounds.
Actors Ashton Kutcher and Jason Sudeikis, basketball players Klay Thompson and DeMar DeRozan, and national soccer teams Tobin Heath and Christen Press were some of the celebrities who attended the game at the home of the Lakers.
