The results from that 2-hour meeting for the Indiana Fever lasted just one game. After an emphatic victory over the Atlanta Dream, they stumbled into an 83-75 loss to the New York Liberty, their 8th straight loss at the Barclays Center. It was a game where they led by 12 points at one point, but the Liberty rallied back by attacking Caitlin Clark and sending almost the entire Fever team into foul trouble. But for the Fever point guard, her problems while defending aren’t necessarily because of the referees. 

For the fifth consecutive game, Caitlin Clark found herself in foul trouble, picking up at least four fouls once again. She was having problems dealing with isolations and had already been whistled for her fifth foul early in the fourth quarter. The frustration with the officiating was visible, as the Fever protested almost every call. Clark has been vocal about refereeing decisions in the past, but this time, she took the blame herself and did not point the finger at the officials for her recent foul troubles.

“I’m probably guarding a lot more on-ball than I have in the past few years as well. You’re put into more action, and there’s probably a higher percentage of getting foul calls too,” Clark said in the post-game press conference. “I think sometimes I’m doing my best keeping my hands out, and there were a couple that were just dumb tonight. That’s on me, and I can’t do those.”

Her defensive instincts are still developing. Clark pointed to one of her fouls against Satou Sabally, explaining that it came on an unexpected move she simply wasn’t anticipating. It was not until this season that Clark began getting actively hunted on the defensive end. The team is now playing a more switch-heavy defense, and the rest of the league is looking to neutralize Clark’s offense by attacking her on the other end of the court.

To solve this, they need to provide better help when she’s isolated on defense. After the game, White echoed the same sentiment, refusing to put all the blame on officiating. 

“We’ve got to do a better job collectively as a team. There were a couple of those where we had opportunities to plug gaps because the person we were guarding was behind the play,” White said.  “We got impatient, didn’t help her out. We didn’t plug the gaps. Some of those are rotation-based, but some of it is just our team defensive positioning has to be better. That can take some pressure off of CC if we’re in the right spots.”

The Liberty knew exactly where they wanted to attack. Time and again, Pauline Astier put Clark in difficult situations by driving at her with the floor spread out, according to The Athletic. With the Fever forced to stay attached to perimeter threats like Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart, Clark was often left isolated in the middle of the floor with little help behind her.

Trailing 62-57 in the fourth quarter, Astier went right at Clark and drew a foul that cut Indiana’s lead to three. Just two possessions later, Clark found herself switched onto Stewart, who used her size and strength to power through for another trip to the free-throw line. The sequence proved costly for Indiana, as Clark picked up her fifth foul and was forced to head to the bench for the next 2:26. 

When Clark checked back in, the same pattern continued. Astier once again went straight at the Fever guard, isolating her before converting a layup that stretched New York’s lead to four. Indiana tried to counter with a switch on the next possession, only for Astier to pick out Jonquel Jones for an easy finish. Moments later, Astier attacked Clark yet again and scored at the rim.

It summed up a difficult night for Clark on the defensive end. She finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists on 4-of-14 shooting, while the Liberty extended their dominance over Indiana with a 13th win in their last 15 meetings. More than anything, though, the game also reignited a growing conversation around the way fouls are being called this season.

The league as a whole is emphasizing freedom of movement, which has led to more touch fouls being called. The Fever found themselves on the wrong end of many of those whistles against New York. The Liberty attempted 40 free throws, with Breanna Stewart accounting for 21 of them on her own. Clark, who shoots 5.6 free throws per game, had none in this game. 

Clark herself acknowledged that after the game. “I also need to do a better job getting to the free-throw line,” the point guard admitted. “Those are easy and free points, and I haven’t shot many free throws this year. It’s about finding ways to make the refs call the same foul in return on the other end.”

Clark’s foul trouble affected the entire team. She was off the court for the majority of the fourth, and the Fever struggled to execute plays without Clark. In the seven minutes the guard was off the court, the Fever were -11. Even while she was on the court, Stephanie White admitted to the inability to maximize their biggest weapon. 

Stephanie White Admits Caitlin Clark Game Plan Flaw as Fever Pay for Sloppy Mistakes

Like multiple teams, the New York Liberty were closely tracking Caitlin Clark. They were picking her up full court and paying attention to her every move, even when she was off the ball. That meant the usage of Clark came down to 21.4% as opposed to the 29.6% over the season. Kelsey Mitchell held most of the ball as she tried to get past the Liberty defense on her own. 

Mitchell shot 7-21 from the field with an assist percentage of 12.5%. She, along with the entire team, missed plenty of open looks. Aliyah Boston had 13 points while going 6-15 from the field. In addition, the Fever turned the ball over 15 times while conceding 15 points off them. Both of which Stephanie White emphasized after the game. 

“We missed 11 layups. It’s really tough when you’re missing those kinds of shots to get back in transition defense. They’re momentum killers at times. With some of our turnovers, we had just strung together a couple of stops, and then we turned it over at an untimely moment,” White said. 

But eventually, when one of the offensive engines was not working, it was always going to be an uphill battle for the Fever. However, White confessed that they did not run as many schemes as they should to get Clark open.  “We couldn’t get CC loose very much at all, and we have to do a better job of finding ways to do that,” she said. 

Clark has now put together four consecutive underwhelming outings, averaging 12.3 points per game on 28.0% shooting from the field and 27.3% from beyond the arc. That has only made things more difficult for the Fever. The offense looks patchy, the defense is inconsistent, and if this team wants to get anywhere close to its ceiling, it must step up quickly.