Caitlin Clark on Kelsey Mitchell: “She makes my life easier out there”
The Fever’s rookie star scored a career-high in Sunday’s win over Dallas, the team’s final home game of the regular season.
INDIANAPOLIS — As the clock ticked down on the Indiana Fever’s 110-109 win over Dallas on Sunday, Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell had scored a combined 65 points, including 12 three-pointers, in their 65:51 minutes on the court. The finesse, rhythm, feel and speed of the two backcourt defenders almost made it seem as if they were scoring at will.
Clark and Mitchell have developed into a magical combination over the course of the regular season, which ends Thursday in Washington, a one-two punch for opponents that Fever coach Christie Sides calls their “dynamic duo” with “ice in their veins.”
Mitchell, a league veteran who turns 30 in November, made 12 of 21 shots and scored 30 points in the final home game of the regular season on Sunday, while Clark scored a career-high 35 points, setting the WNBA rookie scoring record.
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The result made Sides beam as he spoke about the way the two complemented each other and the explosive chemistry between them.
“Man, they’re special. I mean, those two can make such big shots,” Sides said Sunday. “They just have ice in their veins and they have players around them that help them get free, make good blocks and then move the defense. I mean, Kelsey with her ability to run downhill, you have to cover her in a certain way and then she can just stop on the spot.”
“They’re just the dynamic duo. I mean, that’s who they are.”
Mitchell makes her life on the court easier, Clark said after the Dallas game, and makes life a lot more complicated for the Fever’s opponents.
“It’s hard to decide when we’re both in there. It puts the defense in a really tough spot,” Clark said. “We’re just reading and understanding each other a lot better than we were at the beginning of the season.”
There were moments during the game when Clark and Mitchell looked at each other, unbeknownst to Dallas or the sold-out crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and both knew exactly what to do, Clark said.
“She has so much backdoor sense just because we have eye contact and she knows to go through the backdoor. It’s unbelievable,” Clark said. “(We’ve) practiced that play a million times and I just had to laugh because she’s so quick and she gets free every time.”
“Let’s get what’s ours”
The way Clark reads the court (she had eight assists in Sunday’s game) and Mitchell’s agility and ability to find the open spot presented Dallas with a difficult decision, Mitchell said.
“I think if Dallas thinks they’re going to pick one, we both have a chance to get what we deserve,” she said. “But I’m looking forward to it because with players like (Clark), you can always be in the rhythm.”
When Mitchell was asked how she makes Clark better and vice versa, she immediately focused on her speed.
“Oh man, I think just our pace… A lot of people want to play fast (and) with a young PG, I get the best of both worlds,” Mitchell said. “She’s young and she likes to play fast, so I can appreciate that.”
That quick, lightning-fast pace allows the duo to deliver a nearly unstoppable offense and make plays not often seen in the league, Mitchell said.
“The fact that we want to play at a higher tempo and that’s a departure from what you normally see from other teams, I think sets us apart from the pack,” she said, “and that kind of makes us both stand out.”
Mitchell set her career high with 38 points against Connecticut in 2019 and nearly matched that record earlier this month with 36 points in a game against Dallas. She will soon play in her first WNBA playoff series in her seventh season with the Fever.
“I’m really happy for her and proud of her,” Clark said. “She definitely deserves this moment.”
Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on X: @DanaBenbow. You can reach them by email: [email protected].
