Indiana Fever’s Kaitlyn Clark opens WBA playoffs against Connecticut Sun

Caitlin Clark’s historic season continues next week in the first round of the WNBA playoffs. Clark, who became an international star in the college basketball playoffs by leading Iowa to back-to-back championship games, will get her first taste of the WNBA playoffs on Sunday. Sixth-seeded Indiana (20-20) opens its best-of-three series against third-seeded Connecticut (28-12) at 2 p.m. Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. That game will be televised on ABC. The Sun hosts the second game at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN. If the Fever wins one of those games — they’re 1-3 against the Sun in the regular season — they’ll play a deciding game in the series on Friday, Sept. 27, in Indiana. This is the Fever’s first playoff appearance since 2016. The Fever opened the regular season with a 92-71 loss to Connecticut and went 2-8 in their first 10 games. But they’ve gone 18-10 in their last 30, and Clark has established herself not only as the rookie of the year but also as one of the best players in the league, averaging 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 8.4 assists per game. Clark is the first WNBA player to average 19-5-8. In fact, there have been only four other instances of a player averaging 15-5-5. That mark led the league this season and broke the single-season record with 329. Her 19 assists in a July loss to Dallas are a franchise record. She ranks seventh overall in scoring and broke the rookie scoring record with 769 points. She is also the only rookie in the WNBA to record a triple-double — and she has done so twice. Her record of 122 triples — the second-most by anyone in any WNBA season — is another rookie record, according to the Associated Press. 2024 WNBA Playoffs: Indiana Fever vs. Connecticut Sun in the First Round Schedule Game 1: Indiana at Connecticut, 2 p.m. Sunday, September 22 (ABC) Game 2: Indiana at Connecticut, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 25 (ESPN) Game 3 (if necessary): Connecticut at Indiana, time to be announced Friday, September 27 (ESPN2) Indiana Fever vs. Connecticut Sun: Regular Season Results May 14: Connecticut Sun 92, Indiana Fever 71 May 20: Connecticut Sun 88, Indiana Fever 84 June 10: Connecticut Sun 89, Indiana Fever 72 August 28: Indiana Fever 84, Connecticut Sun 80 WNBA Playoffs The WNBA regular season ended on Thursday, September 19. The playoffs will begin the following Sunday (September 22) and could run through October 20. The first-round playoff games include: No. 1 New York Liberty vs. No. 8 Atlanta Dream No. 2 Minnesota Lynx vs. No. 7 Phoenix Mercury No. 1 Connecticut Sun vs. No. 6 Indiana Fever No. 4 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 5 Seattle Storm The four first-round games will be best-of-three, with home games split 2-1 for the higher seed. The second round and the WNBA Finals are both five-game series with a 2-2-1 home-and-home format.