Recap: Mystics fall 85-83 to Caitlin Clark, Fever

Caitlin Clark looked every bit the generational prospect she was hyped up to be in this nail-biter.

The Washington Mystics lost a thriller to the Indiana Fever, 85-83, in front of a raucous sold-out Capital One Arena crowd. Tonight was the second night of a back-to-back at Capital One for the Mystics — Washington was moved to the much larger arena to accommodate the fans hoping to catch college rivals Angel Reese last night and Caitlin Clark tonight.

Aaliyah Edwards got her fifth start tonight following a career-best performance against Chicago. Edwards was great again tonight and was especially effective on the boards; she finished with 12 rebounds, three of which were offensive. In spite of the loss, the Mystics played one of their best games of the season: Stefanie Dolson rained threes; Julie Vanloo accented some timely buckets with beautiful no-look passes; Myisha Hines-Allen was like 500 milligrams of pure caffeine off the bench; and though she finished with just 11 points, I would have guessed from watching that Karlie Samuelson had put up 25.

The loss drops the Mystics to 0-11, far and away the worst record in the WNBA. The Fever, meanwhile, advance to 3-9.

Now, more on who most fans in attendance showed up to see.

Caitlin Clark was absolutely brilliant tonight. She finished with a career-high-tying 30 points and knocked down a career-high of eight threes, just one short of tying a WNBA record for three-point makes. She also pitched in eight rebounds, six assists and four steals to tie together her best game as a pro.

Every section in Capital One Arena was littered with Caitlin Clark Iowa Hawkeyes and Indiana Fever jerseys, and entire rows of school-aged girls even showed up in matching Clark jerseys. Every time Clark touched the ball, the arena felt like a soda bottle being shaken, and every one of her eight three-pointers blew the cap right off. Even her after-the-whistle three had the crowd on its feet.

Clark has certainly and understandably faced struggles so far in her rookie year — she’s shooting far south of 40% from the field on the year — but her performance against the Mystics demonstrated why she is one of the most sure-thing prospects of all time. She just needed to hit the onnneeee three to get into a rhythm, and from there the floodgates were wide open. Beyond her generational shooting touch, Clark affects the game in every facet: she almost never takes bad shots, she is a phenomenal passer, she is an excellent rebounder for her size and frame and she is incredibly calm and collected under pressure. Caitlin Clark is the future of the WNBA.

The Mystics will now hit the road for a Sunday afternoon meeting with the red-hot New York Liberty.