Talk of a Larry Bird – Magic Johnson type of “rivalry” between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese might be overblown, but there is no doubting that the matchups between Clark‘s Indiana Fever and Reese‘s Chicago Sky will only get more intense as both teams attempt to crack open championship windows in the coming seasons. The Fever‘s window is already open — but Clark’s maiden playoff appearance might end up being a pretty short one.
The WNBA‘s best-of-3 first-round playoff format leaves little margin for error — especially as sixth-seeded Indiana lost heavily to the third-seeded Connecticut Sun in Game 1 of their series on Sunday. The 93-69 defeat was a bit controversial, and while Reese has stayed away from addressing said controversy directly, she has made her support well-known for one of the parties involved — and it’s not Clark, amid the rookie’s record-breaking debut season in the W.
Reese congratulates Carrington
Amid fierce debate over a poked-eye incident in Game 1 of the Fever-Sun series, Reese on Wednesday — hours before tip-off of Game 2 — took to social media to congratulate Sun guard DiJonai Carrington for winning the WNBA’s Most Improved Player award for 2024.
In her fourth professional season, Carrington broke out as a key player for the Sun, starting all 40 of Connecticut‘s games between the regular season and the playoffs. She set new career highs in points, rebounds, assists, and steals per game, solidifying herself as one of the top defensive guards in the league — and becoming embroiled in an unfortunate controversy centered on an accidental poke that left Clark with a black eye.
Both Carrington and Clark were eager to move on from the incident, and they are fully focused on Game 2, which will tip from Mohegan Sun Arena at 7:30 Eastern Time on Wednesday night. A Sun victory will see Connecticut progress directly to the WNBA semifinals for the sixth season running; a Fever win will force the series back to Indiana for a decisive Game 3 on Friday.
