Less than a minute into Friday night’s preseason game between the Indiana Fever and Dallas Wings, Caitlin Clark broke free on an out-of-bounds play, caught the ball well behind the arc and buried a 3-pointer. With that, the No. 1 overall pick’s WNBA career was officially off and running.
Clark finished with 21 points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and five turnovers on 6-of-15 shooting from the field in her first professional action, but the Fever fell to the Wings, 79-76. Of course, results don’t matter in the preseason, and this game was all about how Clark would fare against WNBA competition.
“I thought we played really hard,” Clark said. “A great atmosphere for women’s basketball. I think it’s a good kickoff to the WNBA season.”
Here’s what we learned from Clark’s preseason debut:
Shot creation not a problem
The first few minutes of the game were a personal highlight reel for Clark, as she made three 3-pointers and got fouled in the act of shooting another, which resulted in a quick 12 points. Early in the second quarter, she added another one, perhaps the best of the bunch — a nasty dribble combo into a step-back that completely shook Natasha Howard.
While Clark went cold in…
