To say Tuesday night at TD Garden was all about Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark would be an exaggeration. The Connecticut Sun, even amid a nightmare 3-19 season, have plenty of fans of their own in the region. They have now sold out the Garden two years in a row, and last year they did not have the help of Clark on the visitor’s side.
Indiana’s Aliyah Boston, who grew up in Worcester, clearly brought a large crowd of friends and family. That was evident in the numerous signs supporting her during warmups and in the loud ovation she got during player introductions – a reception that nearly matched Clark’s.
But make no mistake: Clark was the main attraction, just as she is everywhere she goes. She has been since her record-setting college years, and continues to be in her second WNBA season, even as she has battled injuries and some poor shooting performances of late.
The “Caitlin Clark effect,” as this phenomenon has often been called, was palpable around TD Garden in the hours leading up to Tuesday night’s game. Walk down the stairs to a T station platform around 5 p.m., and you were immediately greeted by a bunch of Caitlin Clark No. 22 Fever jerseys. Get on the train, see a few more. Get off at North Station and walk over to Canal Street, see a lot more. Get inside TD Garden, and it was almost all you saw as her fans swarmed the Indiana half of the court during warmups. The whole experience was reminiscent of Lionel Messi’s visit to Gillette Stadium just last week.
Clark has no connection to Boston. In fact, she had never even been here until the Fever got into town Sunday night. Boston does not have its own WNBA team. We don’t have a college powerhouse in women’s basketball like the one at UConn 80 miles southwest of here, either.
None of it matters. Clark’s following may have begun in Iowa, where she grew up and then starred for the Hawkeyes in college, but it now stretches coast to coast. And on Tuesday, the Boston portion of her fanbase finally got to see her in person for the first time.
For much of Tuesday’s game, those fans didn’t quite get the show they were probably hoping to see. Clark struggled to hit her shots, something that has been an issue for nearly a month now as the usually sharpshooting guard navigates unfamiliar territory. She was 4-of-14 from the field and 1-of-7 from three. Over her last seven games, she is shooting 29.4% from the field and 14.3% from three.
But Clark did impact the game in other ways, and still finished with a game-best plus-21 as she helped lead the Fever to an 85-77 victory. She dished out four quick assists early on to help Indiana get off to a fast start. She pulled down eight rebounds and helped force a couple turnovers.
Teammates Kelsey Mitchell and Natasha Howard stepped up with 20 and 18 points, respectively. Future Hall of Famer Tina Charles' 21 points and 11 rebounds led the way for the Sun, who kept within striking distance just about all night.
When it got to closing time, though, Clark finally found her scoring touch. In a one-possession game with just over four minutes remaining, she hit a pull-up jumper to make it 75-70. Then she drew a foul on a drive to the basket and hit both free throws. And then she drilled her only three of the game. Seven straight points in a little over a minute to just about slam the door shut. After the Sun cut it to five with 1:59 to go, Clark hit two more free throws and then assisted on a Mitchell layup.
The night still did not have a completely happy ending for Clark. Right after that final assist, she hobbled over to the bench and reached for her groin, sparking concern she had re-aggravated the injury she just recently returned from. There was no immediate update on her status after the game.
Clark’s health is one of several questions to linger after Tuesday’s game. Her shooting woes, likely related, are another. Beyond that, there are questions about the WNBA in Boston. Why don’t we have a WNBA team? Will we ever get one? Amid reports that Connecticut’s owners are exploring a sale of the team, could the Sun relocate to Boston at some point? There is clearly enough WNBA interest here to fill the Garden once a year, but is there enough to sustain a franchise long-term?
Those questions could not all be answered Tuesday night. That’s not what this game was about. This was about a star, the spectacle that follows her all over the country, and – ultimately – a damn good basketball game.