Two of the WNBA’s top teams will play each other for the second time in three days when the Las Vegas Aces face the Minnesota Lynx on Friday, August 23, this time at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
The game is scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on ION. Fans who want to watch this WNBA game can do so for free via FuboTV and DirecTV Stream, both of which offer a free trial, or via SlingTV, which does not offer a free trial but does have special offers.
On Wednesday, the Lynx beat the Aces 98-87 on the road. Napheesa Collier and Courtney Williams combined for 45 points in the win, with Williams adding a season-high 22 points with 10 assists. At 20-8, the Lynx are half a game behind the Connecticut Sun for the second-best record in the league.
The Aces have lost two of three games since returning from the Olympic break and three of their last four games before the break. A’ja Wilson continues to fill the stat sheet, leading the league in points (26.9) and blocks (2.7) per game and is second in rebounds (11.9).
- WATCH THE GAME FOR FREE HERE
WHO: Las Vegas Aces vs Minnesota Lynx
When: Friday, August 23, 9:30 p.m. EST
Where: Target Center in Minneapolis
Electricity: FuboTV (free trial); Sling; DirecTV Stream
Tickets: StubHub, *VividSeats* and SeatGeek
- New customers who buy tickets via VividSeats offers $20 off a ticket order of $200 or more by using the promo code MassLive20 during the checkout process.*
Gear: Shop jerseys, shirts, hats, hoodies and more at Fanatics.com.
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Caitlin Clark’s development raises the question of how she would handle the move to the WNBA
By MICHAEL MAROT, AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — When Caitlin Clark entered the WNBA, she was greeted with countless questions about how she would handle the transition to professional basketball.
After three months of my career, the answer seems clear: better than expected.
It may have taken a little longer than Clark or the Indiana Fever would have liked, but she’s having a record-breaking rookie season and building a new image along the way.
The No. 1 overall pick came into the league out of Iowa and was known for her record-breaking NCAA points, especially her long 3-pointers, and now she holds assist records.
“I’ve always been able to predict what’s going to happen before it happens,” Clark said recently after the Fever beat Phoenix for their first regular-season win against a team since 2020. “I think (Kelsey Mitchell) can (now) tell when I want her to go out the back door, when I want her to intercept the ball or something like that. It’s that chemistry that comes when you’re used to playing with each other.
“It’s taken some time, but I think we’re starting to get a handle on it.”
Anyone who has watched – and yes, millions of fans continue to tune in – can tell the difference.
After a stumbling start, the Fever began this season with nine games in 16 days, losing eight of them, with Clark struggling to learn the playbook and get used to it. Their turnovers outnumbered their assists, and there were more questions than answers as frustration seemed to creep into the game.
Since then, Indiana has rebounded to 12-7, cementing its playoff position, and all the fear has given way to smiles and high fives.
It is no coincidence.
Clark challenged during Olympic break
A tight schedule between the end of Clark’s college season and the start of the WNBA season didn’t give Indiana much time to practice – or for the players to learn each other’s intricacies. So during the month-long Olympic break, coach Christie Sides changed the practice schedule and challenged Clark.
“There were a lot of moments during practice where they were running certain attacks and I would tell (Clark) and only her, so she had to tell the players what we were running or where to go,” Sides said. “I threw in a few things, some sets that we hadn’t run through yet, so she had to think about it and put people in the right position.”
Clark has responded and her teammates seem to be following suit as well.
In the first two games since the break, Indiana impressed with wins against Phoenix and Seattle. In the final 10 minutes, the Fever defeated the Storm 33-17.
Mitchell has made 11 of 21 three-pointers and scored 55 points since the restart, while Lexi Hull scored a season-high 22 points in her last game, hitting 6 of 7 three-pointers. Forward Aliyah Boston, the 2023 Rookie of the Year, also had nine assists against the Storm after outperforming Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner last Friday. Indiana plays at Minnesota on Saturday.
“You have to adapt,” Mitchell said, describing the learning process with Clark. “She had to adapt as a professional and we had to give her what she needs, be a resource to her and fill those gaps. She’s one of those players whose (basketball) IQ is going to take us a lot of ways, so you have to figure out where you fit in and know how to assess her and adjust to her.”
Clark is the best scorer of the WNBA rookies
Since Clark’s dubious, record-breaking debut with 10 turnovers, her assist-to-turnover ratio has risen from 1.23-to-1 in May and June to 2.19-to-1 in eight games since July 1. The records seem to fall every week:
– On Sunday, she broke the WNBA rookie record for most assists in a season, reaching 232nd, ending Ticha Penicheiro’s 26-year run as the record holder.
– In her final game before the break, Clark broke the league record for a single game with 19 assists, capping a streak of six games with double-digit assists in a seven-game span.
– If Clark continues to average 8.3 assists per game, she could break Alyssa Thomas’s single-season record of 316, which she set last season.
She needs eight 3s to break Rhyne Howard’s rookie record of 85 set in 2022, and with 22 3s in the last 12 games, she would be the seventh WNBA player with 100 in a season.
In addition to assists, Clark is the league’s top scoring rookie with 17.8 points per game.
Clark and Fever are the most watched WNBA players
Her performance hasn’t calmed the controversy on social media, nor has it calmed speculation about how she’s treated by her opponents or whether she should have made the U.S. Olympic team. And she remains a huge fan favorite. The Fever lead the league in both home attendance (16,956) and away attendance (15,306).
You still have to see Clark on television.
Friday night’s game on ION drew 1.21 million viewers, nearly three times as many as the Connecticut-Dallas game the same night on the same network.
Sunday’s Fever game on ABC drew 2.23 million viewers, a significant increase from the two games on a rare CBS broadcast on Saturday — New York-Las Vegas drew 874,000 viewers, Minnesota-Washington 577,000.
Of the teams televised last weekend, only Washington and Dallas have fewer wins than Indiana (13-15).
Clark and her teammates are still getting to know each other, which is scary for their opponents, but as she powers Indiana’s push into the playoffs, her development and versatility makes playing together much easier.
“I think I just developed chemistry with my teammates so they see it and they’re on the same page,” Clark said of the turnaround. “Now you see guys making fast breaks or Kelsey making a backdoor cut. It’s that unspoken chemistry, like I’m not telling them what to do, but they can just read my eyes and understand.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article
