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The Atlanta Dream beat the Indiana Fever 91-90 on Tuesday night to hand Caitlin Clark’s squad their first loss of the WNBA season. Clark made some history and finished with 27 points and 11 assists in the game, but somehow wasn’t involved in the team’s final play beyond throwing the in-bounds pass.
After Aliyah Boston hit one of two free throws to give the Fever a one-point lead, Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard made two free throws with 9.1 seconds remaining go put the Dream back on top. The Fever called a timeout to talk it over and advance the ball. When they came out of their timeout, Caitlin Clark was the in-bounder.
Clark threw a cross-court pass to Natasha Howard who signed with the Fever as a free agent in the offseason. Howard, who finished with six points on 3-of-9 shooting, took one dribble towards the middle of the lane and attempted a hook shot that was blocked by Nia Coffey. Howard was able to get the ball back and immediately took a mid-range jumper on the baseline with about six seconds remaining, but missed.
It’s kind of surprising that Clark was not involved in the play at all. It’s even more surprising that neither Boston or Kelsey Mitchell were involved either. The Fever’s three best players shot a combined 27-of-48 in the game and each scored 24 points or more. And none of them touched the ball on the final possession.
Stephanie White calling for Howard, who is a three-time WNBA champion, to get the ball on the block in that situation was shocking coaching decision and based on the result, it was the wrong one.
