Fever blast Sky as Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell shine: Likes and Dislikes
The Fever ended their road trip strong.
CHICAGO – It was 8/23 on Sunday, meaning it was officially time for round three of Fever vs Sky in 2026. The Fever took each of the first two meetings, but both were close and went down to the wire.
And, of course, the last duel had a ton of extracurriculars. A hard foul from Dijonai Carrington, a tech (later rescinded) for Caitlin Clark, and a pair of mid-game social media posts. There was some extra spice on this one.
That set up a fun ending to the Fever's eight-day road trip which featured five games. They had some tired legs to push through one last time before a four-day break, and Aliyah Boston was out with a lower leg injury. Likes and Dislikes from Fever-Sky.
Tony East
LIKE: Offense humming to kick things off
The Fever offense, even without Boston, was great to start this game. They scored 13 points in the first 3.5 minutes, then reached 20 just two minutes later.
Clark was leading the charge. Her shooting and ability to get all the way to the rim helped the Fever get easy shots – she had eight points and four assists after her first quarter stint.
Makayla Timpson kept getting open behind the defense, and Lexie Hull hit a few shots in the opening stretch. Monique Billings, staring for Boston, looked spry. The Fever's pace was sharp, and they earned an early lead behind their scoring attack.
DISLIKE: Turnovers and, shocker, defense
The Fever's ball and player movement were mostly good early, but when things went wrong they went very wrong.
They had six first quarter turnovers, including five from Clark (though a few of those were dropped passes by teammates). That neutralized a lot of their productive play and gave the Sky easy transition opportunities.
Chicago took advantage, scoring seven points off of those turnovers. That marked 25% of their total at the end of the period. It was 28-28 after 10 minutes thanks to a buzzer beater from Myisha Hines-Allen.
LIKE: Monique Billings first half activity
Billings has not had a good road trip, but she played quite well in the first 15 minutes of Fever-Sky – and the Fever needed it with Boston sidelined.
With the second quarter halfway done, Billings was 2/3 with four points. That doesn't sound like much, but her screening and activity were obvious early. And her defense was much better than the level displayed in Dallas and New York.
Billings had three rebounds and two steals at that moment. Her matchup, Kamilla Cardoso, started the game 1/3. The Fever were up four with five minutes until halftime, yet Billings was +7 at the time. Her effective start was much needed.
(Note: Billings had some lesser plays in the final five minutes of the half and entered halftime with four fouls, so Mercedes Russell started the second half)
LIKE: Caitlin Clark, from the midrange
Clark made three twos in the first half of this game, and all three were from the right side of the rim.
One of them came inches from the basket. The other two, though, were from about eight feet out as she banked in mid-range shots. Clark rattled out a third one from the same area.
At halftime, Clark had 18 points and six assists (and five turnovers). Half of her points came from inside the arc or at the foul line. She was attacking well, but the Fever were down 51-50 at the break.
LIKE: Terrific three-point shooting
The first four minutes of the second half were all Fever, and they can thank the three ball for that.
Hull drilled one triple. Clark canned another. And Kelsey Mitchell, who had seven points in the first half, drilled three in somewhat quick succession.
Five straight outside shots will change any game. And those baskets were paired with a nasty block from Timpson and a tidy pass from Russell to a cutting Hull. Suddenly, after trailing at halftime, the Fever led by nine and the Sky needed a timeout.
LIKE: Star guards
Clark and Mitchell were both fantastic in the third quarter.
Mitchell, who scored seven points in the first half, had 14 in the third quarter thanks to her excellent three-point shooting and occasional drives. She extended her streak of consecutive 20+ points to 23.
Clark, meanwhile, was also on her game in the period. She had 11 points, drilled three outside shots, and had two assists. Both guards were shining.
They combined for 25 points in the quarter. The Sky's entire team had 26. The Fever led 83-77 going into the final frame.
LIKE: Still can't miss
The Fever hit three of their first four threes in the fourth quarter, ballooning their lead to 13 with 6:03 to go.
At that moment, they were 11/15 from deep in the second half. Several things matter over the course of a 40-minute game, but it's hard to lose when shooting that well.
(Note: The Fever finished the game with a franchise record 18 made threes)
LIKE: Closing strong
The Fever, at the end of a difficult road trip, didn't let go of the rope in the final minutes. They maintained a double-digit lead for over half of the fourth quarter.
They had every reason to be exhausted and coast after building an edge, but they kept their foot on the gas to lose the action as their lead reached 25 points.
It's a small thing in the grand scheme of a season. But blowing out a team playing well while on the road is a good result for the vibes. The Fever beat the Sky XXX-YY to improve to 25-14.
Thank you for reading. The Fever now have multiple days to rest and practice before their final outing ahead of the FIBA break. Sign up to have stories from this week around the team sent straight to your email inbox.
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