For the last few games now, Caitlin Clark has been breathing fire for the Indiana Fever. Win or lose, she is quite literally lifting the entire team, creating or making at least 40 percent of their total points day in and day out. The game against the Phoenix Mercury was no different.

The Fever had a slow start as the visitors kept them to just six points in the first quarter — the lowest in the league since 2018 and franchise worst since 2016. But that was not the record with which Clark wanted to end her night. Taking over the offense, she lifted the Fever out of the 13-point hole just six seconds into the second quarter. And she never looked back. En route, she also made some remarkable history for herself.

“Caitlin Clark’s sixth-straight game with 20+ points & 5+ assists is the longest streak in @WNBA history, 🔥” the Indiana Fever’s official account tweeted right after their massive 86-77 win.

Clark got in her groove in the second, starting off with a corner three. She then followed it up with two consecutive 30-plus-foot threes. The sharpshooter finished with 15 points and 4 assists (for ten points) in the second quarter alone. That number is tied for the fourth most in any quarter in franchise history. Clark also owns the record for the second-most points scored in any quarter with 17 points, set earlier this season against the Mystics. 

Once Clark got going, she did not stop, finishing with 24 points while shooting 8-17 from the field and 3-10 from the three-point line. She also dished out 9 assists for 21 points. This made up for over 50 percent of the Fever’s points shot or created by the point guard.

Remarkably, Clark broke her own mark, having previously recorded three separate five-game streaks of 20+ points and 5+ assists. One of those came to begin this season before she was limited to 16 points by the Golden State Valkyries in the season’s sixth game. Cappie Pondexter, Arike Ogunbowale, and Kelsey Plum were tied with Clark before the point guard pulled away to add another on Monday night. 

In the last six games, where the Fever is 4-6, Clark has totaled 154 points and 52 assists. This averages to 25.6 points and 8.6 assists per game in this stretch. This record could’ve come in the last game, but in the 78-76 Washington Mystics win on June 8, Clark missed out by one point, scoring 19 points with five assists. But this being her third season in the WNBA, this growth only proves that she is on pace to be a great player in the league.

Her jump to 21.2 points per game this season is also helping her climb other league and franchise records:

• She now has 56 consecutive games with 5 or more assists, which is already the most in league history. The second best in that category is Courtney Vandersloot with 40 games.
• Clark reached 1,324 career points, passing Natalie Achonwa (1,301) for the 13th most points scored in Fever history.
• According to the WNBA, she is not shy of just ten points to leave NaLyssa Smith for the 12th most points in franchise history. 
• Over the last 6 games, Clark has been on an absolute heater, averaging 25.7 points and 8.7 assists on 62.5% True Shooting. She is leading the league in points and assists during that span.

This form from Clark sparked a run from the Indiana Fever, who dominated from the second quarter against the Mercury. They limited the opponents to just 77 points, which is 11.9 points less than their season-wide average while scoring 86 points. Kelsey Mitchell had 22 points while Monique Billings added 14.

According to Michael Voepel of ESPN, this was only the second time in Fever history that they trailed by at least ten after the first quarter but then won by more than ten points. The first time was against Detroit in 2009. Indiana went to the WNBA Finals that year and lost 3-2 to Phoenix. This squad would definitely like to improve on that.

But their performance was relatively masked because of the chaos that broke out in the fourth quarter. A total of five technicals were handed out because of one dustup between Caitlin Clark and DeWanna Bonner. The game had six total technical fouls assessed, and Myisha Hines-Allen was ejected with two in the fourth quarter.

Tensions flared, but the Fever remained calm, a positive development after multiple games where they blew comfortable leads. The Fever will host the Mercury again on Thursday.