In what could’ve been their best playoff performance since 2015, the Indiana Fever succumbed to the Connecticut Sun. Led by Alyssa Thomas’ 19 points and 13 assists, the Mohegan tribe-owned team swept the Fever in Game 2 of the first-round series. Though Caitlin Clark emphatically bounced back after her Game 1 failure with a game-high 25 points, it just wasn’t enough. Her words post-game weren’t doomsday-like, but fans could sense there was unfinished business.

“It’s a good little taste of what’s possible for this organization and this franchise. There’s a lot for us to hold our heads high,” Caitlin Clark began saying in the post-game press conference. The Rookie of the Year also addressed her teammates and expressed the void that she already feels with their 2024 season ending earlier than expected.

“This team won, I think, 5 games a couple of years ago. We’re a young group, a pretty inexperienced group. But we came together and had a lot of fun playing with one another. The worst part of it is you feel like you’re playing your best basketball and then it has to end,” she added.

Though the Fever’s team bonding and camaraderie has risen throughout this season, the Sun was the better team. Each Sun player scored 8 or more points in a well-rounded team effort. Though Clark’s 25 points brought the Game 2 margin (81-87) much lower Game 1 (69-93), the Christie Sides-coached team failed at the first hurdle. But somehow, the Iowa alum broke yet another record.

Caitlin Clark sets new WNBA record, paralleling Magic Johnson’s rookie season

Ahead of the playoffs, Aces coach Becky Hammon described the Fever trio of Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, and Aliyah Boston as a “three-headed monster.” Clark, especially, rose above and beyond the level of her fellow veterans. She averaged an impressive 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 8.4 assists in her sensational, record-breaking rookie season.

She broke Seimone Augustus’ rookie scoring record of 744 points with 761 of her own. Clark also claimed the single-season WNBA assists record, scored the most double-doubles in Indiana Fever history (14), and the first triple double in franchise history. In Game 2 against the Sun tonight, the fans in the Mohegan Sun Arena got to witness history being made.

Clark’s 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 9 assists, made her the first WNBA player to hit a 25-5-5 in the playoffs, as per StatMamba. In doing so, she also became the first basketball rookie since Magic Johnson in 1980 to achieve these numbers. Talk about insane comparisons!

Clark was so wholeheartedly invested into upping the Fever’s game that she didn’t think about anything but beating the Sun. Though the Fever got knocked out in the first round in their first playoff appearance in 7 seasons, the 6-foot Guard sent an ominous warning to her rivals. “I feel like I had a solid year. But for me, the fun part is I feel like I’m just scratching the surface,” she concluded.