The Indiana Fever and star guard Caitlin Clark will host WNBA expansion franchise Portland Fire for the first time on Wednesday night in Indianapolis.
The Fever (2-2) are coming off a win Sunday at home over the Seattle Storm in which Clark tallied game highs of 21 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds in an 89-78 victory.
It was the 12th time that Clark had at least 20 points and 10 assists in a single game, a WNBA record for such a statistical combination. Courtney Vandersloot previously held the record with 10 times across 436 career games, but Clark, who has played 57 career games, shattered that mark in less than three seasons of play.
“I always take pride in being able to set my teammates up for success,” Clark said. “That allows our team to really get flowing, and I can do a really good job of that. I only played 23 minutes (against Seattle), and I had 10 assists, so I think it shows the potential of what this team can do offensively.”
Clark is averaging 24.3 points and 9.0 assists per game this season, making her tied for fourth in the league in scoring and first in assists. She’s also a perfect 23 of 23 from the free-throw line through four games.
Indiana beat the Storm without the services of Aliyah Boston, who missed a game for the first time in her WNBA career with a lower leg injury. She had played in 127 consecutive regular-season games and 10 playoff contests for the Fever since 2023. Boston also played 138 games at South Carolina without missing any action due to injury from the 2019-20 to 2022-23 seasons.
The good news for the Fever is that Boston was not listed on Tuesday’s injury report and participated in practice, so the 6-foot-5 forward and three-time All-Star should be available against Portland. Boston is averaging 12 points and five rebounds per game this season.
Portland (2-2) is coming off a one-point home victory over the Connecticut Sun on Monday, a game that featured a career-high 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting off the bench from guard Sarah Ashlee Barker.
A product of Alabama, Barker was a first-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Sparks last season but was left unprotected by the club for the expansion draft. The Fire grabbed her with the 18th overall pick.
“It’s grit, it’s resilience. It’s being the hardest worker every single minute. And I think (Barker) shows all of that and more,” Fire coach Alex Sarama said.
Through four games, Barker is averaging 10.5 points per game and shooting 60% from 3-point land. Bridget Carleton leads the expansion side with 17 points per game.
For the Fire, guard Carla Leite (right ankle) and forward Kamiah Smalls (left ankle) are questionable to face the Fever, while guard Karlie Samuelson (left foot) remains out.
–Field Level Media
