The Minnesota Lynx settled the scores with the Indiana Fever on a historic night. The jersey retirement ceremony of the iconic Maya Moore turned sweeter with Minnesota handing the visiting Fever a 90-80 loss, tying the season series at one game apiece. For Caitlin Clark, this brought an end to her streak in Minnesota, despite a valiant effort.

An agonizing loss overshadowed Caitlin Clark’s memorable night, where she became the fastest player to go past 500 points and 200 assists.  Clark and Co. couldn’t cope with the prowess of Napheesa Collier and the rest to suffer their first defeat after the Olympics break. Consequently, fans are not taking it well.

The first quarter began with the visitors 0-for-7 from 3-point area in the first 10 minutes as their shooting wasn’t up to the mark. At the end of the first quarter, Fever were already trailing by 13 points. Nonetheless, the Rookie of the Year frontrunner, alongside Kelsey Mitchell, led an impressive fightback, bridging the gap to just 1 point at the halfway mark.

However, they couldn’t capitalize on this momentum for too long. The hosts went on an 11-2 run soon after half-time, with Napheesa Collier and Kayla McBride leading the charge. Building on a 10-point cushion, they entered the last quarter with an upper hand. Collier iced the game courtesy of her 2 shots from the free-throw line, finishing with a game-high 31 points, 10 of which came within 5 minutes of the start of the game.

With their 90-80 win, the Lynx clinched a playoff spot and snapped the two-game winning run of the Fever. Christie Side’s team dropped to 13-16 for the season and remain in seventh place in the WNBA standings. It was a different story from the Fever’s first visit to the Target Center in July.

That game saw Side’s Fever register a dominant victory against one of the league’s best sides and helped rejuvenate their season. Clark shone in that game alongside Aliyah Boston as both scored 17 points each to help their team to an 81-74 win. However, notably, Napheesa Collier was absent from that game due to a foot injury. And as it turned out, she proved to be the difference maker on Saturday.

Collier had a 23-point match-winning effort against Las Vegas Aces last time out and took things to the next level against Indiana Fever. However, Clark was also up for the fight, registering her 13th 20-point game of the season.

The 6-foot guard capped off her night with 23 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds. With this performance, she became the fastest player in the WNBA history to reach 500 points and 200 assists, achieving the feat in just 29 games.

Sadly, that wasn’t enough for them to overcome an inspired Minnesota side and it certainly wasn’t enough for the Fever loyalists. The defeat to Lynx also meant Clark lost in the state of Minnesota for the first time since the start of her college career.

Fans unhappy with team performance as Caitlin Clark finally loses in Minnesota

Clark helped the Iowa program to win the Big Ten tournament titles in 2023 and 2024 at Target Center, with a perfect 6-0 record when playing inside the arena. She also won three road games against Minnesota in her college career taking her streak to 9-0. On July 14, she made it 10-0 when Fever beat Lynx in Minnesota. But her run of success in the state finally ended after Collier’s inspired effort.

Head Coach Christie Sides has been on the receiving end of harsh criticism on many occasions. Whether it’s her game plans or how she is managing Clark, many have questioned her methods this season. So much so that even Fever’s GM Lin Dunn expressed her concerns over it. Another such example was witnessed after this game as well. One X user wrote, “This one is all on Sides. You are against a team that is on a back-to-back and you don’t go full on transition??? Then create plays for Dantas over Clark???????” 

One of the players who came off the bench for Indiana tonight was Damiris Dantas. The No.12 in her 17 minutes on the hardwood produced 8 points and 4 rebounds while shooting 4-10 from the field. However, it was her zero conversions from the 3-point range that irritated fans the most. Keeping that in mind, one expressed, “And they keep giving it to Demiris who keeps missing.”

Clark had a slow start to the game with just 4 points in the first quarter. She was able to turn things up a notch in the second quarter racking up 11 points to help her side reduce the deficit. But her performance dipped in the next two quarters. She ended up scoring only five and three points in the next two quarters. While Clark went 8-18 from the field against Minnesota, fans wanted her to take more shots.

Both she and Sides faced the wrath of one fan due to this. “Caitlin Clark has only taken 4 shots the entire 2nd half. inexcusable.”

Currently, Caitlin Clark leads the likes of Diana Taurasi and Sabrina Ionescu and has the longest average distance of made three-pointers this WNBA season with over 28 feet. Still, she was making the opportunities for Damiris Dantas from beyond the arc. That, for some, wasn’t a wise decision. “Should have been driving the lane the entire game instead of Dantas heaving up 24 footers.”

Currently, Minnesota Lynx sits at the top of the league in terms of defense with a defensive rating of 93.4. So, some believed that breaching that wasn’t Indiana’s cup of tea. Witnessing the struggle of the visitors throughout the night, one of them pointed out, “Minnesota is good #1 ranked defense if I’m not mistaken. Not an indictment on CC but I truly believe Sides has no plans to get Clark open IMO.”

An unsuccessful outing for Caitlin Clark and Co. Regardless, their playoff chances are still intact with 11 games remaining. Fans would hope that they can secure at least 7 more wins to confirm their place in the postseason for the first time in 8 years.