Caitlin Clark (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever teammates rewarded her with a hysterical celebration following her triple-double in Saturday’s win over the New York Liberty.
In the Fever’s 83-78 victory, the first overall pick of 2024 finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists. It marked a special day for Caitlin Clark, who became the first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple-double.
After the historic outing, Clark’s teammates celebrated in the locker room by pouring bottles of water on her. After getting soaked, Clark went over and embraced head coach Christie Sides in a heartwarming moment.
Caitlin Clark’s epic outing helped the Fever improve to 9-13 on the season. She was one of four Indiana players to score double-digit points, along with Kelsey Mitchell (14 points), NaLyssa Smith (12) and Aliyah Boston (18).
It was by far the biggest win of the season for Indiana, too. The Liberty (17-4) sit atop the WNBA standings, and they won the previous three meetings against the Fever this season by double-digit points. This included a 104-68 blowout win on June 2.
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Clark is currently averaging 16.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game in her rookie season. She has posted 13-plus points in each of Indiana’s last eight games, including 23 in a 91-83 victory over the Chicago Sky on June 16.
Caitlin Clark Has Willed Fever Back Into Playoff Race
Early on, the playoffs felt like a pipe dream for the Fever. They started out 0-5, 1-8, 2-9 and 3-10. But they’ve turned a corner since a June 13 win over Atlanta that commenced a four-game winning streak.
Now sitting at 9-13, the Fever occupy the eighth and final playoff spot. They are just half a game behind the Chicago Sky for the No. 7 seed and two games behind the Phoenix Mercury for the No. 6 spot.
The Fever will try to continue their momentum when they host Washington on Wednesday.
Someone Tried To Use The Sketchiest Stat To Expose Caitlin Clark’s Case For Rookie Of The Year, And Social Media Is Having None Of It
Caitlin Clark (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Basketball fans are destroying a polarizing stat that undermines Caitlin Clark’s grade-A production in her rookie season.
Caitlin Clark was drafted first overall by the Indiana Fever this year, and the all-time NCAA Division I scoring leader has lived up to the hype in every aspect. The 22-year-old is averaging 16.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game through her first 22 WNBA contests.
Clark’s efforts have helped Indiana surge into the playoff picture following a miserable 1-8 start. Having won six of their last nine games, the Fever (9-13) occupy the seventh seed and are only 2.5 games behind the Phoenix Mercury for the No. 6 spot.
But as noted by the @CClarkReport X/Twitter account, the widely-used player efficiency rating (PER) advanced statistic suggests that Caitlin Clark shouldn’t even be the WNBA Rookie of the Year.
This doesn’t make sense, since Clark is the overwhelming favorite to win the honors at practically about every sportsbook. The stats don’t lie, after all.
Fans on X/Twitter wasted no time exposing the statistic while defending Caitlin Clark:
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Former Memphis Grizzlies VP of basketball operations John Hollinger, now a writer at The Athletic, designed the PER stat. As ESPN outlines it, PER is “the overall rating of a player’s per-minute statistical production.”
Few advanced statistics in the sporting world draw more outcry and debate than PER in basketball. And Caitlin Clark’s incredible rookie season is just another compelling case that the formula for PER is far from perfect.
Advanced Stats Can’t Ignore Caitlin Clark’s Impact For Indiana
At the end of the day, one just has to look at how much the team has improved with Clark this season. They went 13-27 a year ago and failed to win double-digit games in each of the three years prior.
Indiana last made the postseason in 2016, albeit with a 17-17 record that culminated with a first round loss at the hands of Phoenix. Indiana hasn’t topped 13 wins in a season since 2017, yet Clark has them on track to easily surpass that number here in 2024.
