UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Alyssa Thomas recorded the 15th triple-double of her career, spoiling Caitlin Clark’s playoff debut as the Connecticut Sun defeated the Indiana Fever 93-69 in the first game of their best-of-three series on Sunday.
Thomas finished with 12 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, her fourth triple-double of the postseason. Marina Mabrey led the third-seeded Sun with 27 points, 20 of which came in the second half. Her 27 points are the most by a reserve in the playoffs, according to ESPN.
Game 2 will take place on Wednesday night in Connecticut, with a potentially decisive third game that could take place on Friday night in Indiana if needed.
Clark, who was named AP Rookie of the Year earlier in the day, finished with 11 points, rebounding from a rocky start. She also had eight assists. Kelsey Mitchell scored 21 points and Aliyah Boston added 17 points and 11 rebounds for Indiana.
The Sun had already played 222 playoff games, while the Fever had only played 19 games, none of which were regular teams. For Indiana, it was the first playoff appearance since 2016. This year, Connecticut head coach Stephanie White was in charge of the Fever.
The lack of experience didn’t seem to bother the Fever at first. It probably helped that, as at most of the Fever’s away games this season, nearly half the crowd – many of them wearing Clark shirts – cheered them on in everything they did.
After a back-and-forth first 16 minutes, Indiana led 36-34 with 3:45 left in the first half. Then the Sun took the lead and finished the first 20 minutes with a 12-2 run.
DeWanna Bonner scored four points during the final spurt and impressively blocked a layup by Clark. Bonner finished the first 20 minutes with 16 points. Clark had a quiet first half with just three points and made one of her nine shots.
She missed her first two shots in the third quarter before the Fever called a timeout. Clark hit the bench in frustration. That seemed to get her going, as she hit her next three shots to get the Fever going again, but it wasn’t enough, as Mabrey kept up with every shot, scoring 11 points in the third quarter. Clark finished the game 4-of-17.
The first half also had a little of everything. 48 seconds into the game, the game was stopped because Indiana had to contest a foul against the wrong player. They were successful. About 45 seconds later, Clark was accidentally poked in the right eye by DiJonai Carrington and lay on the ground briefly before leaving the field.
A few minutes later, Tyasha Harris injured her right leg while attempting to block a shot. She had to be led off the field and later returned to the bench with a heavily bandaged ankle.
