Caitlin Clark defeated three American Olympic gold medalists in her WNBA return on Friday night, but the Indiana Fever at one point blew a 28-point lead in their win over the Phoenix Mercury.
Clark was sensational in the first half, coming out of the blocks flying after her month-long break from competition for the Paris Games. But the 98-89 victory did not reflect how tense the game was at times for her team.
By halftime, Clark had scored 16 points and the Fever led Mercury 48-20 at one point. But in the third quarter, Mercury, led by Kahleah Copper, turned the deficit around and even led by a point at one point.
But Clark and the Fever rebounded to pull off what could be a crucial win in the playoff hunt, extending their record to 12-15 for the season.
Copper, Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi won gold in Paris on Sunday and played Chicago Sky and Angel Reese on Thursday night. But they refused to give up against Fever in a breathtaking final quarter that culminated in a shootout.
Caitlin Clark scored 29 points as Indiana Fever returned to WNBA with a win
Clark finished with 29 points and her 10th double-double of the season in front of a sold-out Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd that had waited more than a month to see its star player in action again.
“We were unbelievable, we had a few misses that didn’t look very rosy, but we always found a way to deal with them,” Clark said afterwards.
“It sets the tone of where we want to be for the rest of the season, to grind this out. It’s one at a time and we’ve got another big one on Sunday.”
MORE TO FOLLOW