The Indiana Fever did plenty of good things in their 109-100 loss to the Minnesota Lynx. They shot 57% from the field and 46% from deep, Caitlin Clark finished with a double-double, with 19 points and 10 assists, and Kelsey Mitchell scored an efficient 37 points. Still, it wasn’t enough for a win to extend their win streak to six games, and one of the biggest reasons for the loss was offensive rebounding.
Indiana is usually solid in that area, allowing opponents just 7.9 offensive rebounds per game. The Lynx grabbed 11, which is slightly above their 9.8 average.
Caitlin Clark took accountability for her own missed boxouts after the game.
“The offensive rebounding that we gave up tonight really hurt us, and that starts with me,” Clark said in the postgame media availability, per a video on the Fever’s YouTube channel. “I think my player got at least four tonight, so I gotta be better in that area, and I can for sure.”
The fact that Clark is aware of her lapses and seems determined to work on it is an encouraging sign. She and the rest of the team have to do a better job boxing out and limiting offensive rebounds than they did in this game. Seven of their next ten games are against teams that currently rank top ten in offensive rebounds per game, including the league-leading Atlanta Dream.
Second-chance points really hurt the Fever
The Fever were outrebounded 11-5 on the offensive glass. Maya Caldwell alone was just one board short of matching the Fever’s team total with four.
A lot of Caldwell’s offensive rebounds were the ones Clark was talking about. Clark spent a lot of time guarding Caldwell when she was on the floor and missed a few boxouts. Caldwell’s first offensive rebound came early in the second quarter. When Antonia Delaere missed a 3-pointer, Caldwell got to the rim behind Clark’s back. She grabbed the offensive rebound between Clark and Sophie Cunningham and reset the offense, leading to Dorka Juhasz getting wide open for a layup and two easy points.
With 6:45 left in the fourth quarter, Clark failed to box out Caldwell again, and she grabbed another offensive rebound that led to a 3-pointer for Napheesa Collier, who is rounding back into MVP-runner-up shape after missing the start of the season. Earlier in the same quarter, Clark got lucky when Caldwell grabbed an offensive rebound against her, but the Lynx ended up with a shot clock violation.
Clark also gave up an offensive rebound that led to two points for Courtney Williams in the third quarter.
Natasha Howard was also active with three offensive rebounds. The Lynx scored 16 points off their 11 offensive rebounds, which made all the difference in an eight-point game.
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