Fever piling up more big wins, double up Lynx in decisive 4th quarter

MINNEAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever picked up another signature win over the Minnesota Lynx at Target Center on Sunday afternoon, in what was somewhat a homecoming for Fever rookie Caitlin Clark.

From Des Moines, Iowa, Clark grew up going to Lynx games, idolizing Minnesota stars like Maya Moore and Seimone Augustus. This time around, Clark was a professional in the Target Center against the Commissioner’s Cup champions.

The Lynx were missing Olympian Napheesa Collier and coming off a tough, 30-point loss to Seattle earlier this week, and the Fever capitalized for a 81-74 win.

Aliyah Boston produced 17 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, while Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with 21 points. Clark was cold from the floor (5-of-17) and finished with 17 points and six assists.

Here are three observations:

Fever get another win against WNBA top team

With four minutes left in the game, the Lynx and the Fever were tied at 71. The two teams had been playing closely all game; there had been 11 lead changes and 14 ties in the course of 40 minutes.

For most of the season, too, the Lynx had been considered out of the Fever’s league. Minnesota was the fourth place team in the league with a 16-7 record and beat the New York Liberty to become Commissioner’s Cup champions (a banner they just unveiled pregame).

This time around, the Fever knew how to close out the game. Indiana held Minnesota to zero points for two minutes while scoring four from Fever center Aliyah Boston herself, running the same play twice that stumped the defense.

While Minnesota nearly got back into the game at 77-74 with a 3-pointer, but a timely rebound from Boston forced the Lynx to foul and give up two free throws. Then, after Clark rebounded a Lynx miss again, they had no choice but to foul and go down seven points with seconds left.

The Lynx dribbled the ball out to loud cheers from the Fever, Iowa and Caitlin Clark fans who made the drive from Iowa to Minneapolis, giving the Fever their fourth victory over a .500 or better team.

Caitlin Clark ends double-double streak

Just one day after fellow rookie Angel Reese saw her 15-game double-double streak snapped, Clark’s came to an end, too.

Clark had five straight points-assists double-doubles heading into this game. In that span, which included the WNBA’s first rookie triple-double, Clark averaged 12.4 assists per game. She matched the single-game franchise record (which she set) of 13 assists three times during that span, but never got over that number.

She racked up seven assists in the first quarter alone Friday night against Phoenix, utilizing cross-court lobs and bounce passes in the paint to find her teammates wide open.

The Lynx, however, shut down those passing lanes. Minnesota defenders knocked the ball out of the air on some of Clark’s higher passes and poked the ball out of her grip, giving the rookie six turnovers. Those six turnovers gave Clark, with 15 games left in the season, the unwanted single-season turnover record. Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas previously set the record in 2023 with 137 turnovers.

Clark still finished the game with six assists, which put her at 194 on the season — second in WNBA rookie history, passing Sue Bird’s 191. Clark only has Ticha Penicheiro’s 225 assists to break the rookie record.

Aliyah Boston nabs first-half double-double

Fever center Aliyah Boston didn’t want to wait long to start a double-double streak of her own. Just two days after scoring 21 points and grabbing 13 rebounds against Phoenix, she didn’t make it to halftime before putting down another double-double.

She easily overpowered Minnesota second-year center Dorka Juhasz in the paint, boxing her out of the zone and grabbing the ball in the first half. Pair that with an 83% shot from the field, and Boston had 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and 10 rebounds.

Boston continued her rebounding ways in the second half, and she didn’t need many to set a new career-high of 16 rebounds.

How many points did Caitlin Clark score against the Minnesota Lynx?

The Fever rookie scored 17 points on 5-of-17 shooting, adding on six assists and three rebounds. She also had six turnovers.