Kayn Clark versus Angel Ree, the final matchup of the WNBA season, and it all came down to this. Going into this game, ESPN listed Angel Ree as the Rookie of the Year leader, but after this game, their list might have changed because this game was probably going to be the decider. What separates these two young players? It was Barbie night in Chicago to celebrate Angel Ree, and this game had everything from big shots, dirty plays, taunting—it was the most highly anticipated WNBA game in history, and it did not disappoint. So, let’s talk about it.

First play of the game, Indiana goes to their go-to. They did this on the opening play against the Mercury, and they did it here too. Clark into Boston, who waits and finds Kelsey Mitchell on the back door cut across the baseline. The Sky get their first points on the boards with Lindsay Allen, but look how quickly the Fever come back. Allen hits the deck, and you see Clark look at her, see she’s on her ass, so she gets out with speed, stalls, and waits for Angel Ree to commit to one of the two players she’s guarding. Once she does that, Clark finds Smith inside for an easy layup.

Someone who’s quietly coming into their own this season is Camila Cardoso. She’s been playing a lot better, and watch here down low how she just lets Smith and Boston fly by and lays it in easily. A new face from the last time we talked about this guy is Michaela Oari. She stepped into the lineup since the Mabrey trade and started off this game strong with a nice floater. She was the Sky player tasked with guarding Caitlin Clark, and she learned the hard way that if you go under the drag screen with number 22, you’re going to get punished.

But guess who answers right back? Angel Reese. She lets fire from three at the top of the key and knocks down what would have been just her third three-ball of the entire season, but the whistle had gone, so it didn’t count. Watch Lindsay Allen here. She could throw it back into the 6’7″ Cardoso and let her fight with her former teammate down low. Angel Ree is also demanding the ball at the free-throw line, but Allen, feeling herself matched up with the taller Smith, lets a high-arcing three-ball fly, and it’s all net. Nissa Smith, on this play, tries to go one-on-one with Ree, who pokes the ball loose and gets the steal. Angel runs the floor with three bodies around her, doesn’t force the issue, instead kicks it out to her again, and Lindsay Allen makes it back-to-back three balls.

The fans came to see a shooter, and they got one they weren’t expecting because there she is again. Allen uses the screen from Cardoso and fades towards the baseline, off balance, and scores. Even she can’t keep a smile off her face—that’s three straight jump shots for Lindsay Allen, and it’s raining threes from the Sky. This time, doubled, she kicks back out to the perimeter, and Michaela’s open, and she makes it three for three from Chicago from the perimeter. It’s an 11-0 Sky run, and the Fever can’t believe that statistically, the WNBA’s worst three-point shooting team is lighting them up from downtown.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The Sky gets the ball inside to Cardoso, she kicks it out to Allen, and this time, the Fever respect her jumper. Clark rushes to close out, so Lindsay throws it into Reese, who overpowers Smith and finishes at the goal for her first points of the game. With so much on the line in this game and so many eyeballs, Caitlin Clark was not about to let herself get cooked by Lindsay Allen, so she started getting aggressive. She just attacks right here, goes straight to the hole, and finishes for the score. But the Sky hadn’t cooled off and hit another three-ball. They’re so far ahead early in this game that The Fever could double their points and still be trailing.

Clark was the only Fever player with a sense of urgency, running at pace before the Sky could set up defensively. She crosses the court and slips it into Kelsey Mitchell with a bounce pass right on the money, and one, and that’s got to give the Fever a spark. Kelsey Mitchell has been one of the WNBA’s best guards since the All-Star break, second in the entire WNBA during this time period, and she gets them back into this game. Boston doesn’t want anything with Cardoso down low, so she kicks out to Kelsey Mitchell. Three-ball from the corner is good, and that’s a quick six-point swing from Kelsey Mitchell, and the Fever are suddenly back in the game.

Another lady in fine form is Lexi Hull. She steps up from the left side, waits for Boston to screen to get some daylight, lets fire, and scores. She’s shooting an insane 70% from three-point range in her last five games. She’s proven to be a knockdown shooter, coming off six threes in their win against Seattle, and just like that, all the work the Sky did to get ahead in this game, and they only lead by six. The Fever closed the quarter strong. Tammy gets a piece of the entry pass to Reese, Clark comes up with the possession, races out, creates an angle, and threads the needle with a one-handed bounce pass. Another and one, and it’s a three-point game. The quarter ends 26-23 Chicago, who led by as many as 12. They couldn’t hold on to their double-digit lead for even a quarter, and the Fever are suddenly confident they weathered the storm and know when the Sky starts missing from three, that they’re going to be able to take control of the game. Metro led the Fever in scoring with eight points, Clark had three assists, while Lindsay Allen and Michaela were unexpectedly carrying the scoring load for Chicago.

The second period starts, and the first points of the quarter came from number 22. The Fever patiently moved the ball around, Clark, who moments earlier had nowhere to go, catches her defender ball watching, flares out to the logo, and sinks a long three-ball from legit Steph Curry NBA range, and the game’s now tied at 26. Angel Reese comes down the other way. She’s been quiet and wants in on the action, but she’s called for a travel. The Fever have some momentum, and here we see a great iteration of the Iverson cut. Clark looks like she’s playing tag, getting chased all over the court, but it’s still not enough to catch her. Two high post screens give her the room she needs, and despite three defenders doing everything to try and stop her from getting her shot off, she makes it two in a row from deep, and the Fever take the lead for the first time in the game. Clark is three of four from three so far, heating up from downtown.

It’s absolute chaos now. Evans gets a layup, Clark, out of the frame, doesn’t see DeShields over her shoulder. She steals it and goes up for the quick two, but Tammy blocks the shot. Clark recovers possession and sends a long one out to Erica Wheeler for the layup. She scores, and this game is getting crazy. Michaela, who started off well, is still finding ways to put points on the board for the Sky, but watch this from Caitlin Clark—the Mitchell back door cut is nothing new, but watch the spin on the ball and how on the money the pass is. That’s her up to six assists in the game, and it’s not even halftime yet. Make that seven. Inbound to Clark, Mitchell curls from the corner around the screen from DeShields, sees Cardoso sagging, checks, fires, and scores a long two over the 6’7″ Brazilian. That lady is on some serious smoke. Wheeler breaks the three from the corner but shows her hustle, chasing down her own rebound. She passes to Mitchell, who steps into a three, and you already know it’s good, and Teresa Weatherspoon is forced into a timeout. The Indiana Fever up seven, Kelsey Mitchell with 15 points on six of nine shooting so far. But did you think she was done?

Now it’s Kelsey’s time to have this guy playing tag. Same Iverson cut play they ran for Caitlin, and it’s the same result—good defense doesn’t matter because Kelsey Mitchell is the best-scoring guard in the WNBA right now, and there isn’t a shot on the basketball court she can’t make. That’s ten points in the second quarter for Mitchell, and Chicago are now the ones down double digits. End of the shot clock, finally they have something to be excited about as Rachel Banham hits a three, but Caitlin Clark understands the psychology of basketball. So before the crowd can get hyped and get back into it, she shuts them down right away. She goes and gets those three points back the old-fashioned way. Count the basket and the and-one. A 90% free throw shooter, that should be automatic, but she missed.

Typical Lindsay Allen, after a hot start, went kind of quiet in the second as this bucket right here was her first since the first period. Finally, Angel Reese, who’s been incredibly quiet with just two points on one of four shooting near the half, is tempted into taking a long two, hesitates, decides to pull the trigger, and actually knocks

it down. Allen catches a great bounce pass inside, but she’s met at the rim, and the Fever gives her nothing easy. There’s a lot of bodies in there, it’s incredibly congested, and Indiana are just dominating inside the paint, and once again, that has to do with Cardoso’s limitations when defending. Meanwhile, everything is coming easy for Indiana. They’re just outrunning the Sky back in transition, and Clark casually pulls up with her defender backing up and nails another three-ball, nothing but net, and you can hear a pin drop in Wintrust Arena. That’s Clark up to 14 points now, and the Indiana Fever finishes the half up by 16 points, having outscored the Sky 34-15 in the second quarter.