Clark, new-look Fever rout Sky in chippy opener

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Fever started their season Saturday with a blowout victory over the Chicago Sky, a triple-double from Caitlin Clark, a career milestone for Fever newcomer DeWanna Bonner and a kerfuffle between Clark and the Sky's Angel Reese. Talk about a full opening day.

Gainbridge Fieldhouse was packed with 17,274 fans to see the Fever defeat the Sky 93-58, tying for the second-largest margin of victory in franchise history. Clark, last season's rookie of the year and an All-WNBA first-team selection, got her third triple-double as a WNBA player after 17 in college at Iowa. She had 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, plus 4 blocks.

Still, a lot attention will go to a sequence in the third quarter. Clark, looking to stop Reese from getting a wide-open layup, tried to strip her of the ball and was called for a foul. Reese fell to the floor and then got up to go after Clark, who walked away.

Indiana's Aliyah Boston, attempting to keep the two players apart, picked up a technical, which she didn't know about until after the game when asked about it by media.

Boston, who finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds and 5 blocks, then expressed astonishment about the technical. Clark told her, "I got it for you, don't worry," about the $200 fine.

As for the incident overall - Clark's foul was upgraded to a flagrant 1 - she said she was making a play on the ball, which replays showed.

"Let's not make it anything that it's not," Clark said. "I'm not sure what the refs saw to upgrade it; that's up to their discretion after watching the initial whatever happened during the play and whatever happened afterward.

"It's a take foul to put them at the free-throw line rather than give up two points. That's exactly what it was. I wasn't trying to do anything malicious."

Asked by a pool reporter after the game, crew chief Roy Gulbeyan explained the officials' reasoning.

"The foul [by] Clark met the criteria for flagrant 1, for wind up, impact, and follow through for the extension of the left hand to Reese's back, which is deemed not a legitimate basketball play, and therefore deemed unnecessary contact. After the foul, there is a physical taunt technical on Boston and a verbal technical on Reese, which offset."

In a brief Sky postgame press conference, Reese - who had 12 points and 17 rebounds -- said of the foul, "Basketball play. Refs got it right. Move on."

Last season, Reese and then-Sky player Chennedy Carter were called for flagrant fouls on plays against Clark in two different games. The foul against Carter wasn't upgraded until the next day, however.

Both Clark and Reese have downplayed any personal rivalry between them. But their fan bases have been at odds since they met in the 2023 NCAA final in which Reese's LSU squad beat Clark's Iowa team. Clark was the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft and Reese was No. 7.

The Fever and Sky play five times during the regular season; their next matchup is June 7 at the United Center in Chicago.

Indiana's Stephanie White, starting her second stint coaching the Fever, was happy with how well her team played defensively and the chemistry the Fever showed before and after the incident involving Reese and Clark.

"Nobody's going to get anything easy against us; we're going to be a tough defensive team," White said. "I thought it was a clear play on the ball as well. One of the points of emphasis for us is we can't give up 'and ones.' So you're going to feel us.

"I am proud of this group. We have a lot of young players, we have a lot of veterans. And understanding moments where we have opportunities to grow from a mental-toughness standpoint, from an execution standpoint ... I felt that was a moment where we came together and we used that to propel us."

One of the Fever's veterans is Bonner, who is new this season to Indiana but is in her 16th year in the WNBA. Bonner scored 7 points Saturday and moved into third place all-time in the league in scoring (7,489) behind retired standout Diana Taurasi (10,646) and Connecticut's Tina Charles (7,696).

Bonner and Seattle's Alysha Clark are the oldest active players in the WNBA at 37. Bonner said the atmosphere in arena Saturday and the embrace of the Fever fans made it special for her, along with her twin daughters being at the game.

"Definitely a perfect opening day," said Bonner, who signed with Indiana as a free agent after previously playing in Connecticut and Phoenix, where she won two championships with Taurasi in 2009 and 2014. "To play in front of that crowd ... when I walked out, I was just like, 'Oh, my god.' I think I was a little shell-shocked. I'm just honored.

"I always say I played with the greatest of all time in Diana. I had the blueprint on how to stay in this league; she did it for 20 years."

Clark is just in her second season and fellow No. 1 pick Boston in her third. But the two have helped turn around the franchise. They combined with guard Kelsey Mitchell to get the Fever back in the playoffs for the first time since 2016 last year, which aided the team in luring free agents like Bonner and Natasha Howard, who had 15 points Saturday along with Mitchell.

"This is a great first win, but we have 43 more games to go," Boston said. "So for us, it's just about making sure that we lock in, re-watch the game, look at what we need to work on."