The swish of the net was all Caitlin Clark heard as the crowd erupted. Her first logo three of the season had just dropped. She stepped into the new season with her signature confidence, casually pulling up from deep and delivering a highlight-worthy moment right out of the gate. Indiana was holding a solid lead over their archrivals, the Chicago Sky, but not everything was smooth sailing.

As Lexie Hull pulled up and missed a close-range shot, Rebecca Lobo pointed out the Fever’s rookie mistakes in the first quarter of the opening game. “The Fever have missed a lot of really good looks within five feet of the basket in this game already. They’re five for 13 from the floor.”

The attack was initially expected to be the strong suit and it has been so far in their opening game. If it hadn’t, they would have been trailing at this point, but they have created just so many chances against this Sky defense. The Fever eventually improved that efficiency from 38.46% to 46.7% by the end of the game. This kind of inefficient start will not fly against the top brass of the league, as they will punish them even if they make a tiny mistake. And they will not let you come back like Sky did.

The defense has been their major flaw, last year ranking only better than the Dallas Wings with 107.5 points conceded in 100 possessions, so if they step their foot off the gas in the attack, it could prove to be trouble. That defense is expected to be better this year with the likes of De Wanna Bonner  and Natasha Howard joining. Aliyah Boston was a different beast in their opening game, grabbing 13 rebounds and 5 blocks. So she has improved a lot.

Despite those mistakes in the early part of the game, the Chicago Sky couldn’t capitalize on them, and they went 17-22 behind after the first break, and Angel Reese looked particularly disappointed with her performance.

Holly Rowe asked her in the after-quarter interview, “Five rebounds in the first quarter alone. What do you like about how you’ve played so far?”She abruptly replied, “It’s not good enough. We are still trailing so it’s not good enough.”

Reese audibly let out her frustration after she missed a free throw in the first quarter and their graph continued to sink as the game went on and they eventually just gave up against the overwhelming attack of Indiana. Reese did her part with a team-high 12 points  and 17 rebounds but there was no one to support her.

It just looked so much more comfortable from Indiana. Right from tip-off, there wasn’t one period where you felt that Sky might actually give a tough fight. Reese’s frustration increased further as she clashed with Caitlin Clark during the game. Clark fouled her and she was immediately in CC’s face. The foul was later considered a flagrant one. this one was a complete blowout from the Fever and a couple of records were broken in the process.

Caitlin Clark records historic stat line

It was one-way traffic in Indiana as the Fever led all game and comfortably won 93-58. That is the largest season-opening win in Fever’s history. As expected before the game, Caitlin Clark stamped herself in this game, recording her third triple-double of her career. To do that against her rival makes this performance that much sweeter.

Clark had 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, shooting 6/13 from the field while making passes only she can. That was combined with multiple logo threes, as she got 4/8 three-pointers right.  In the process, she became only the fourth player and the fastest in WNBA history to record three triple doubles. The other three include Candace Parker, Alyssa Thomas, and  Sabrina Ionescu. It took only 41 games to record her third triple-double, which is 14 games less than the next fastest, Sabrina Ionescu. It was a record day for Clark, as she now has the 2nd most games in WNBA history with 20+ points and 10+ assists.

that list of achievements could go on but this was exactly the confidence-boosting start the Fever needed after the expectations mounting from fans and analysts alike. Even among themselves, each of them is aiming for that championship this season. And if their opening game is any indication, they are serious about it. They should ride on this momentum, as there will be a time when they will face a rough patch. The Fever will next face the Atlanta Dream next on Wednesday, 21/05.