Indiana Fever 78-73 Los Angeles Sparks Final: Caitlin Clark breaks the curse, Fever finally get a win this season!

It took Caitlin Clark over 30 minutes to hit her first three-pointer, but once she did she helped the Indiana Fever secure their first win of the season, 78-73, over the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena.

It took Caitlin Clark over 30 minutes to hit her first three-pointer, but once she did she helped the Indiana Fever secure their first win of the season, 78-73, over the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Clark struggled until midway through the first quarter. She started the game 0-for-7 from beyond the arc, and 2-for-12 from the field. But Clark hit two three-pointers from the logo in the final 2:27 of the game to clinch the victory for the Fever.

“Some nights the shots are going to fall, some nights they’re not,” said Clark on the ION Network after the game. “I’m proud of my team, we stepped up and made some big shots.”

Indiana entered the game 0-5 on the season, but in Clark’s first professional game in Los Angeles, she ignited the crowd with her passing prowess and unabashed shooting range. Clark finished just shy of a triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists. But more importantly, she earned her first career WNBA win.

The highly touted matchup between the first and second overall picks in the 2024 WNBA Draft lived up to the hype.

The faceoff between rookies Clark and Sparks’ Cameron Brink was the hottest ticket in Tinseltown on Friday night. According to Vivid Seats, the average ticket price was $175, and the most expensive average ticket price in Sparks’ history, including the 2016 WNBA Finals against the Minnesota Lynx.

Caitlin Clark gets 1st bucket of game!

Caitlin Clark perfect pass to Fagbenle for layup

Indiana Fever Coach Christie Sides Blames Caitlin Clark Players Indiana fever After loss.

Watch the video below! Indiana Fever head coach Christie Sides was dealt an an honor and a curse when the organization selected Caitlin Clark with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft . The Fever have played two games this season, both resulting in blowout losses. They recently lost to the New York Liberty 102-66 in their home opener. Sides has been under fire for her inability to coach Clark, with many fans calling for her firing. The Fever have struggled mightily, but Sides views these problems to be mainly on the defensive side of the ball. She had one message to the team following their massive loss to the Liberty. “Don’t let them keep punking us. Give it back,” said Sides, per Scott Agness on X. 

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) walks up the court Thursday, May 9, 2024, during the preseason game against the Atlanta Dream at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Indiana Fever defeated the Atlanta Dream, 83-80.

Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

Indiana seems to be struggling on every level of the floor. While Sides may want the team to have a defensive identity, she may need to change her view, given the offensive weapons on the Fever.

One of the biggest oversights in the WNBA television schedule has been remedied. The Indiana Fever’s first game against the Chicago Sky this season — read: Caitlin Clark’s first WNBA game against college rival Angel Reese — has been flexed from NBA TV to ESPN, according to Sports Media Watch. The two teams will face off June 1. The move is common sense from ESPN. Clark has brought unprecedented attention to women’s basketball in recent months, and Iowa’s two games against Reese and LSU are a major reason why.  The Hawkeyes’ win over the Tigers last month drew 12.3 viewers on the same network, making it the most-watched women’s college basketball game of all time. That record was broken twice over in Iowa’s next two games, culminating in 18.7 million tuning in for the championship game loss against South Carolina. The 14.2 million viewers for Iowa-UConn in the Final Four was the most-watched basketball game in history, men or women’s as well as college or professional. The interest isn’t only in Clark. Reese’s preseason debut wasn’t televised, but hundreds of thousands of people watched her play through a spur-of-the-moment livestream on X. So it’s only natural ESPN would want to capitalize on the Clark-Reese rivalry again now that both women are pros. Reese achieved an enormous amount of fame after leading LSU to a national championship over Iowa last year, as well as no shortage of detractors for how she trash-talked Clark as the game ended. Both athletes have made very clear there is no personal animus behind their rivalry, and have even embraced their linked fortunes. Clark has struggled so far in her WNBA career, with the Fever going a lopsided 0-2 and their No. 1 overall pick shooting 7-of-23 (30.4%) from the field with 13 turnovers. It’s not really time to hit the panic button, though, given that Clark is being expected to handle ball-handling duties only a month after joining her team and 39 days since ending her collegiate career. Diana Taurasi wasn’t wrong. As for Reese, the Sky dropped their season opener 87-79 against the Dallas Wings on Wednesday. Taken seventh overall and paired in the paint with South Carolina star Kamilla Cardoso, Reese scored 12 points on 5-of-14 shooting with eight rebounds and two turnovers. The June 1 matchup likely won’t include a rematch between Clark and Cardoso, as the Brazilian big will miss a significant amount of time with a shoulder injury.