Fever Beats Dream, Caitlin Clark Scores 16 Points in Front of Record Crowd for Atlanta

With the Indiana Fever coming to town, the Atlanta Dream moved Friday’s game to State Farm Arena (capacity 16,888 for basketball) from its usual home court at Gateway City Arena (capacity 16,888 for basketball) of 3,500 seats) to accommodate a large crowd eager to see Caitlin Clark in action.

A sellout crowd saw the Fever win their fourth straight game with a 91–79 victory over the Dream. Clark didn’t lead Indiana in scoring, but she dazzled the crowd with long three-pointers. She finished with 16 points, shooting 4 of 8 from long range.

NaLyssa Smith led the Fever with 21 points and eight rebounds, followed by Kelsey Mitchell’s 18. Aliyah Boston grabbed 10 rebounds to go along with her 10 points.

Atlanta announced a sellout Friday morning and were still selling standing-room-only tickets before tipoff. With an official attendance of 17,575, the Dream set a franchise record.

Atlanta’s Tina Charles led all scorers with 24 points and six rebounds, shooting 9 of 13 from the floor. But the rest of the Dream had a rough night, with a 36% success rate as a team. Allisha Gray added 19 points, while Haley Jones had 12.

Indiana started hot and never let up, shooting 67% (8 of 12) from three-point range in the first half, led by Clark going 3 of 5. Mitchell went 2 for 3, while Smith and Katie Lou Samuelson each added one. Meanwhile, Atlanta shot 38% from the field and 30% from three.

Since losing three straight to close out May, Indiana has won five of its last seven games. Their record improves to 7-10.

The Dream (6-8) was without leading scorer Rhyne Howard (averaging 15.4 points per game), who injured his ankle in Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Lynx.

Next meeting on Sunday for both teams, the Dream will host the New York Liberty on Sunday. Awaiting the Fever is a highly anticipated matchup with the Chicago Sky (and the final meeting between Clark and Angel Reese) that resulted in the highest prize money the WNBA has ever seen.