A lot of attention was given to the game officials in Sunday’s Game 1 clash between the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun. There were a number of controversial moments throughout the contest, which ultimately saw the Sun secure a commanding 93-69 win to go up 1-0 in the first-round WNBA Playoffs series.
One issue that caught the attention of the fans centered around multiple shot-clock issues, particularly in the first half of action. At one point, the shot clock was set at 14 seconds instead of the usual 24 as Caitlin Clark and the Fever were pushing the ball in transition. The referees had to stop play to attend to the issue, which impacted the momentum of the game, particularly on Indiana’s side.
This led to some frustration from Clark, who was caught uttering a blunt statement to the game official during a dead-ball situation.
“Not on my fast break, though. Come on!” she told the referee.
The Fever just couldn’t get it going in this one, and one might argue that these unwanted stoppages may have played a role in their inability to get off the mark, so to speak.
Either way, there’s nothing Clark, the Fever or anybody else can do about it now. That’s all water under the bridge and Indiana has no other choice but to move on.
Clark and Co. will now enter a must-win contest on Wednesday in Game 2 of this best-of-three series. A victory at Connecticut will force a series-deciding Game 3 at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis while a loss will mean the end of the line for what has been an incredible run for Clark and the Fever.