Caitlin Clark admitted she “can’t explain” the emotions she felt watching from the sidelines as the Indiana Fever secured their first WNBA Playoffs win in nearly a decade as they defeated the Atlanta Dream.
The 77-60 Game 2 victory at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse saw Clark and her girls move to level within the series, forcing a decisive Game 3 and marking their first postseason victory since 2015.
The 23-year-old, who has been sidelined with a groin injury, could only watch from the bench as her teammates delivered one of the franchise’s most significant wins in recent memory.
But despite being unable to contribute on the floor, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft shared her disbelief after one pivotal play in the third quarter as the Fever took control.
“Can’t explain what I felt in this moment,” Clark wrote on X, after Lexie Hull drilled a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Indiana its largest lead of the game to that point.
Hull’s late third-quarter shot capped a 5-0 run in the span of 10 seconds, and according to the team’s center, Aliyah Boston, the building erupted.
“That was great for us,” Boston said postgame, via the Daily Mirror. “The energy, everyone felt it. The crowd was going crazy. We used that momentum into the fourth.”
The win carried added significance for Fever fans. It was the franchise’s first playoff game in Indianapolis since 2016, and the crowd responded with energy that matched the intensity on the court.
Indiana relied on a balanced attack to secure the win. Kelsey Mitchell led all scorers with 19 points and four assists, while Boston added 15 points, five rebounds, and three assists.
Natasha Howard also contributed 12 points to round out a strong frontcourt performance whilst on the defensive end, the Fever held Atlanta to 37.9 percent shooting from the field and just 26.3 percent from beyond the arc.
The victory ended a postseason drought of 3638 days for the Fever, who last won a playoff game on October 11, 2015, against the Minnesota Lynx and it had been a very long time coming.
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Game 3 will now shift back to the Dream’s home floor at Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia. The decisive matchup tips off Thursday at 19:30 ET/16:30 PT on ESPN2.
The Fever will once again be without Clark and veteran guard Sophie Cunningham, both out for the year.
Still, with the momentum gained from their first postseason victory in nearly a decade, Indiana’s players have given themselves a chance to write another chapter in their playoff story.
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