SI

Sparks Defender Forgets to Shoot Second Free Throw in Order to Guard Caitlin Clark

Stephen Douglas

May 24, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) smiles as she heads down court after a 3-point basket in the final seconds of the game against the Los Angeles Sparks at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
May 24, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) smiles as she heads down court after a 3-point basket in the final seconds of the game against the Los Angeles Sparks at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
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Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever took on the Los Angeles Sparks at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Tuesday night. Clark posted a new career high 30 points, but turned the ball over seven times and only made three of 10 three-point attempts as the Sparks beat the Fever 88–82.

While the Fever are now 1–7 this season and Clark has yet to have a breakout game that truly reminds fans of her record scoring outputs at Iowa, she is showing signs.

During the second quarter she had a thrilling sequence where turned defense into offense. Clark blocked Li Yueru, recovered the ball, brought it up and threw a nice cross-court pass before she got the ball back and hit a deep three. It was probably the best sequence of her young WNBA career.

Clark was just 7-of-16 from the field, but she was still drawing an incredible amount of attention throughout the game. So much so that Los Angeles guard Aari McDonald tried to defend her when she was supposed to be shooting a free throw.

McDonald was at the line to shoot two; she made the first and was so focused on guarding Clark the length of the court that she forgot about her second.

This is the gravitational pull of Caitlin Clark. She requires so much attention that an opposing player forgot about shooting her second free throw. Have you ever seen that before?

Clark filled out the rest of her stat line by making 13-of-15 free throws to go along with six assists, five rebounds, three steals and three blocks.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a Senior Writer on the Breaking & Trending News Team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in journalism and media since 2008, and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Stephen spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and has previously written for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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