WNBA

Caitlin Clark makes more history, but Fever take first loss of season to new-look Dream

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) drives on Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard (10) in the first half of a WNBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Caitlin Clark keeps putting up numbers never seen in WNBA history. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

 (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever made it look easy in their season opener. The Atlanta Dream provided a reality check on Tuesday.

In their second game of the season, the Fever fell 91-90 to another team that spent the offseason re-tooling around a No. 1 pick. In the Dream’s case, it was Rhyne Howard, who combined with new additions Brittney Griner and Brionna Jones to outwork Indiana inside and outside the paint.

91
Dream
Final 1 2 3 4
ATL 31 13 32 15
IND 23 19 23 25

The game saw the Fever come back from down nine points with 4:09 remaining, but one final possession saw one shot from Natasha Howard blocked by Nia Coffey and the other one clank away.

Clark finished with 27 points, 11 assists and five rebounds. While it was a losing effort, those numbers did make even more history for a player who has been posting unprecedented numbers since she stepped foot in the WNBA.

The second-year star is now tied with Courtney Vandersloot for the most 20-point, 10-assist games in league history with 10. That’s not an “on pace for” or “through X games in her career” statistic. It’s the most games in the 29-year history of the WNBA.

Vandersloot reached that mark across 430 games in a decorated career. Clark, who already has the league’s single-season assist record and sits at third on the all-time triple-double list, did it in 42 games.

LeBron James has interesting theory about why Celtics lost to Knicks

LeBron James has interesting theory about why Celtics lost to Knicks originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Did complacency cost the Boston Celtics a chance at repeating as NBA champions?

The C’s fell to the New York Knicks in six games during their second-round series, ending their season on a sour note with a blowout loss at Madison Square Garden. While one could point to several issues that led to Boston’s demise, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James offered a unique take on why the reigning champs came up short.

“It seems like sometimes, it seems like they get bored sometimes with the — I don’t want to say the process. Because I mean, s–t, they are who they are, and when you look at (Jayson) Tatum and (Jaylen) Brown, this is years and years and years and years, they’ve punched their 10,000 hours,” James said on the “Mind the Game” podcast with fellow NBA great Steve Nash.

“But sometimes it seems like they get a little bored because of how great they are. Not only as those two as individuals, but them as a team, sometimes it looks like they get bored.”

Boston fell into a 2-0 series hole after blowing consecutive 20-point leads at home. While “bored” may not be the right word to describe the Celtics’ mindset during those collapses, it’s fair to criticize them for getting too comfortable.

The C’s responded with a lopsided Game 3 win at MSG, but a disastrous Game 4 ultimately determined their fate. They blew a 15-point halftime lead and lost superstar Jayson Tatum to a ruptured Achilles late in the fourth quarter. After they rallied to win Game 5 at home, Tatum’s absence was glaring in their 119-81 Game 6 defeat.

Health was a significant factor in the Celtics’ second-round exit. On top of the Tatum injury, Jaylen Brown played through a partially torn meniscus, and Kristaps Porzingis wasn’t himself due to a nagging illness.

Still, above all else, a lack of in-game adjustments cost Boston a shot at raising Banner 19. Joe Mazzulla’s group had no answers when their 3-pointers stopped falling, and the Knicks capitalized each time the Celtics’ offense went ice-cold.

Although the Celtics were the better team for most of the series, the Knicks were relentless. That’s why they’re on to the Eastern Conference Finals to take on the Indiana Pacers, and the C’s are back home looking ahead to an uncertain offseason.

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