The Guru’s WNBA Report: Clark and Boston Set League Duo Mark in Indy OT Win; Liberty Moves to First in Cup East Race; ‘Vegas on Collision Course With Minnesota; Bueckers Explodes in Dallas Win

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

The Indiana Fever (7-5) blew another double-digit lead in their third straight Commissioner’s Cup contest Thursday night and then the two overall No. 1 draft picks Aliyah Boston (2023) and Caitlin Clark (2024) made WNBA history winning 114-106 in overtime over Chicago (4-9) before a home crowd of 15,578 in Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as the duo became the first paired teammates in the same game to have 30-point double-doubles.

New York (9-4) continued to roll with the Liberty’s sixth straight win with a 104-90 win at Atlanta (8-4) before 3,600 at Gateway Center in suburban College Park becoming the sole unbeaten team on the Eastern side of the intra-conference Cup race and in the driver’s seat to be one of the reps in the Cup championship game Tuesday, June 30.

Dallas (8-4) may not make it as the West rep, but the Wings are on track for the long-range goal making the playoffs as reigning rookie of the year Paige Bueckers exploded for a season-high 31 points leading to an 85-70 win over visiting Phoenix (4-10), last season’s playoffs runner-up before a home crowd of 6,251 at College Park Center in suburban Arlington.

Defending playoffs champion Las Vegas (9-3) stayed on a weekend West collision course with Minnesota (10-2) in the Cup race winning 105-89 at expansion Portland (6-8) before a Moda Center of 13,178 in Oregon as reigning MVP A’ja Wilson scored 32 points for her second straight game for the triumphant Aces and Chelsea Gray tied a WNBA record with a personal best nine 3-pointers finishing with 29 points.

On Tuesday in a game featuring the top two draft picks in April’s draft, Minnesota (10-2), at home and the overall standings leader in the playoff race at the quarter-season turn got 24 points from Olivia Miles, the number two pick, for the Lynx’s eighth straight win 100-76 over visiting Dallas, whose Azzi Fudd, the number one pick, was held to six before a Target Center crowd of 10,907 in Minneapolis.

Tuesday’s other games saw Atlanta’s Angel Reese, a third-year pro, acquired from Chicago in the offseason, score 17 points with 17 rebounds for her 57th double-double in an 82-75 win against her former Sky team before 6,921 at Wintrust Arena in the Windy City, the second visit back for Reese after the two teams had an unofficial meeting in the preseason.

Golden State (7-5), which joined the league last season, continued its lifetime nightly home sellout record of 18,064 at the Chase Center in San Francisco as the Valkyries got 25 points, 19 in the first half, from Veronica Burton in an 87-81 win over Phoenix, which was led by Harrisburg’s Alyssa Thomas with 22 points, eight rebounds and nine assists.

On Wednesday, expansion Toronto (7-5) at home at the Coca Cola Coliseum before a Canadian crowd of 8,210 got a career-tying best of 38 points from Brittney Sykes as the Tempo rallied to a 106-102 overtime win over Connecticut (2-12), which saw Aaliyah Edwards and French star Leila Lacan each score 24 points.

Toronto’s Marina Mabrey scored 21 points, rookie Laura Juskaite scored 19 and Nara Sabally scored 15.

In Wednesday’s other game, Los Angeles (6-6) got 24 points from Nneka Ogwumike in an 88-83 win over her former Seattle team of two seasons before a Storm (3-11) home crowd of 9,309 at the Climate Pledge Arena in Washington and she also grabbed nine boards to pass Rebekkah Brunson into fourth on the league career list.

Kelsey Plum added 19 points with 11 assists for the visiting Sparks while reserve Cameron Brink scored 15 and Dearica Hamby had 10 boards.

All five Seattle starters were in double figures in the Storm’s seventh straight loss led by Natisha Hiedeman with 16 points.

Boston and Clark Lead the Way in Fever Win

Aaliyah Boston had 34 points and 12 boards for Indiana while Caitlin Clark had 32 points and 10 assists in the win over Chicago.

The Fever seemed poised in regulation when Clark hit two from the lane with 18.9 left for a 98-93 lead, but a turnover led to a game-tying 3-pointer from free agent Skylar Diggins to send it into overtime.

Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, who had 19 points, got Indiana up seven in the extra period and Boston clinched it with two attempts from the line after Chicago, 1-for-7 in overtime, got within three at 24.1 seconds left.

Indiana was perfect at the line with 23 makes until a miss near the game’s end.

Lexi Hull had 11 points with eight boards for the winners, while Chicago’s Sydney Taylor off the bench had 30 points, Diggins had 21, Azura Stevens scored 10 with nine boards, Kamilla Cardoso also scored 10, as did Jacy Sheldon, and Saint Joseph’s grad and free agent Natasha Cloud scored six off the bench.

“They just played really confident and they moved the ball and it was exactly what we needed,” Indiana coach Stephanie White said of her star duo. “They’re elite in what they do. And the more experience they get at this level, the way people play us. They’ve already grown.”

It was Clark’s third career game with at least 30 points and 10 assists, a WNBA best per ESPN Research, and it was Boston’s second 30-point double-double.

As for losing leads, they got up 19 in the first half, White said, “We are at our best when we play with pace. We can’t play with pace if we’re constantly taking the ball out of the net and if we’re fouling.

“Again, we gave them 38 free throw attempts. It makes it tough. We have moments we’re really good and we have moments where we’re not. We took a step in our connectiveness tonight.”

Liberty Ride Stewart and Sabally to Showdown Win Over Dream

Both New York and Atlanta were unbeaten in Cup competition but the Liberty, still without Sabrina Ionescu, prevailed as Breanna Stewart had 19 points and 11 boards, and Satou Sabally had five threes for the visitors, making their second road stop this week after a seven-game home stand.

The Liberty were hot all night at 54% from the field and set a franchise record with five players reaching at least 16 points, the total reached by Jonquel Jones with 10 rebounds and five assists, while Marine Johannes had 17 points and passed former Rutgers great Cappie Pondexter for sixth best in the franchise with made 3-pointers.

Rookie starter Pauline Astier continued to be a steady substitute for Ionescu with 16 points.

Atlanta’s Reese just missed another double-double with 25 points and nine rebounds while Rhyne Howard scored 24 points and her five makes from deep made her the youngest ever in the league to have 400 career distance makes getting there in 147 games.

Allisha Gray added 18 points.

“We were playing basketball,” said Liberty first-year coach Chris DeMarco on whether it was the team’s season best outing. “The ball was moving. We were getting stops when we needed to and that was a key to the game plan.

“We were tough on the glass, and we had players make plays when we needed to.”

Atlanta second-year coach Karl Smesko said of the Dream loss, “Obviously, New York played it really, really well. They shot it really, really well.

“I though we competed really hard but had too many defensive breakdowns. Just couldn’t make that final run at the end. We’ll learn from it. We’ll get better, but today I thought New York was outstanding.”

Gray and Wilson Keep Aces in Pursuit of Lynx in Cup Race

Gray was 9-for-13 shooting deep, tying four previous players with that many, including Atlanta’s Howard, who did it twice last season.

“I had a couple of games where I was, ‘OK, I’m hitting them in practice, but not here,’ but you know, this is just about trusting the work,” Gray said.

“There is a real connection that we have, and you see that on the court,” Willson said.

Jackie Young had 18 points, 10 assists and eight boards for Las Vegas, while NaLyssa Smith had 12 points and Stephanie Talbot had 10 against Portland.

“It’s nice to have Jackie where you can get Chelsea off the ball, because she is a really good shooter,” winning coach Becky Hammond said. “A lot of times, the ball is in her hands and she’s getting us into offenses where she is passing. So, it’s nice to get the ball out of her hands and let her do some of the easier work.

“But I mean, her numbers are always up there. She flirts with 50-40-90 every year.”

It was the Aces’ first game against the Fire and thus the team said it took a bit to handle Portland’s formidable defense.

“I like Portland’s team,” Hammon said. “I think they’re feisty, but my team is feisty, too.”

The Fire’s Carla Leite had 18 points with eight assists, former Iowa star Megan Gustafson had 17 points, Sarah Ashlee Parker had 14 points, and Bridget Carleton scored 13.

Bueckers Leads Wings to Bounceback From Lynx Loss

Following Tuesday’s loss at Minnesota Paige Buecker’s big night quickly got Dallas righted while Phoenix’s struggles continued.

Jessica Shepard continued her fine free agent season with the Wings scoring 17 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists.

A late Mercury rally reduced a 22-point deficit to 10 at 80-70 and then it died on a turnover leading to a three-point play from Li Yueru.

Azzi Fudd added 17 points to the Dallas total after being second fiddle to Olivia Miles in Minnesota.

Phoenix’s Lexi Held had 17 points while Philly native and Rutgers alum Kahleah Copper had 13 points on 3-of-10 from the field and Alyssa Thomas was held to six points with nine rebounds and 10 assists.

“I have an opportunity to coach a really good basketball team with a lot of weapons at both ends of the floor,” said Dallas first-year coach Jose Fernandez.

“It was great to see other guys step up especially when the ball didn’t go in the basket for a couple guys on our roster collectively. It was great to respond after a tough loss on the road.”

In the two games former Villanova star Maddy Siegriest was scoreless Thursday after scoring 4 in 22 minutes against the Lynx with seven rebounds.

Bueckers had 23 points in Tuesday’s game while Arike Ogunbowale scored 16.

Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts did not mince words after his team’s defeat.

“This was a step backwards tonight, as far as just our approach and our togetherness, and what it takes to win in this league,” he said.

In second-year Golden State’s win Tuesday over Phoenix, reigning coach of the year Natalie Nakase comparing her team’s attack to its previous game, said, “Visually it was better. The fight was better, I thought, individually, there’s a lot of growth, but we did lose the rebounding battle, but they did shoot a lot of threes which were hard to grab.

“So, overall, it was better. Today we came in with better intentionally to the game plan.”

Also on the high-end Tuesday, Kayla McBride had 22 points with 4 makes in 6 tries from deep for Minnesota, Natasha Howard scored 21, Courtney Williams had 16 points with eight rebounds, and Nia Coffey also grabbed eight boards.

Of Miles, veteran Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, the former La Salle star out of South Jersey with four WNBA titles and an Olympic gold medal title for USA in 2024 in the Paris Games, now in her 17th season, said, “She’s special. We’ve had, obviously, good teams, legendary games, but it’s a different time now. And there’s an awareness – I’m hearing from people talking about our team, obviously talking about the rookie – that is palpable.”

Reeve, who will be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville later this month, had no new word on the potential return later this month of perennial MVP candidate Napheesa Collier from offseason surgery on both her ankles.

Miles, the central New Jersey native, said after the game, “Fudd’s a great player, she deserved to go No. 1. She’s a brilliant shooter, one of the best we’ve ever seen in the game, but obviously, against any team, I love to compete.

“I love the matchup, Dallas has great guards,” she continued. “It’s always fun to play against someone who’s in your class and we’ve been completing since we were young.”

Wednesday’s Winners

Expansion Toronto coach Sandy Brondello on the first overtime win, beating Connecticut: “It says it we’re a resilient bunch. We weren’t happy the way we played. I said before the game, do not underestimate this team. They’re long, they’re physical. They made shots today. Just happy. We have a brief rest now and we play again.”

Los Angeles star Kelsey Plum: “Nneka was the MVP of our team tonight. I thought just her being so aggressive is what we need moving forward. She’s tremendous in that high paint area, decision-making, shot quality, shot efficiency.

“So, I thought her aggressiveness and kind of really just setting the tone for us was awesome. So yeah, we have multiple threats, inside-out scoring. We have a great shooting game, but I think that our post players were the reason that we were able to come through this game.”

Looking Ahead

The Friday twin bill on ION and League Pass features Toronto at Washington at 7:30 p.m.  and Golden State at Seattle at 10 p.m.

On Saturday, Connecticut hosts Indiana at 6 p.m. on the NBC Sports Network and Peacock while at 8 p.m. comes the blockbuster West showdown of Minnesota at Las Vegas.

League Pass has the other two games, Dallas at expansion Portland at 8:30 p.m., and Los Angeles at Phoenix at 10 p.m.

On Sunday, Washington is at New York at 3 p.m., on NBA TV, which is now part of the League Pass package at no extra cost, and Atlanta is at Toronto the same time on League Pass.

On Monday, Las Vegas at Dallas at 8 p.m. is on USA while at the same time League Pass will carry Phoenix at Minnesota.

At 10 p.m., Los Angeles at Golden State is on NBCSN and Peacock.

UPSHOT ACTION

This weekend in the new four-team UPSHOT League, the Greensboro Groove (4-3) are at the first place Jacksonville Waves (6-2) Friday night at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m., while Sunday the Savannah Steel (4-4) is back at the Charlotte Crown (2-6) at 2 p.m.

Games can be watched free on the league’s YouTube channel.