After an explosive 29-point, 10-assist outing on Friday night, Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever will now turn their attention to the Seattle Storm, who are fresh off an embarrassing loss to Atlanta.
In fact, the Storm led by double-digits in the second half before collapsing late in the game. Needless to say, they will be seeking a bounce-back win on the road against Clark and company.
Will the Storm break the Fever? Who will step up on Sunday for their respective teams? Check out my analysis for this matchup below, including a breakdown of my WNBA same-game parlay (SGP) for Sunday, August 18.
WNBA Same-Game Parlay for Sunday, August 18
- Caitlin Clark To Score 20+ Points (-132)
- Caitlin Clark To Record 10+ Assists (-104)
- Indiana Fever +3.5 (-110)
Parlay Odds: +350 (FanDuel)
Caitlin Clark Over 19.5 PTS (-132) + Over 9.5 AST (-104)
Storm vs Fever | 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
Clark wasted no time getting back to her dominant ways, pouring in 29 points and dishing out 10 assists on Friday night against Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury.
The Storm have had their way with Indiana this season, winning all three matchups, two of which were by double-digits; however, Clark has still put together strong outings, including a 21-point, 7-assist, and 7-rebound game, as well as a 20-point, 9-assist performance.
Seattle has in no way, shape, or form “shut down” Clark, despite having the second-best defensive rating and holding opponents to the second-lowest effective field goal percentage in the league.
Frankly, Clark has been playing All-WNBA-caliber basketball in the last few weeks of the season, but her past five games, in particular, have been astonishing; she’s averaging 23.8 points, 12.2 assists, and 5.0 rebounds on a 46/32/90 shooting split during that stretch.
Further, Clark has scored at least 20 points and recorded 10+ assists in four of her past five games.
Everything is clicking for Clark at the professional level now. We are no longer seeing indecision or uncertainty, and she has the ultimate green light on the offensive end of the floor.
For this matchup, Clark will have even more offensive opportunities to score and find open players for assists because the Storm also prefer to play at a lightning-quick pace (second in the WNBA).
Clark has elite processing speed in transition, allowing her to pass players open, find the open shooter, or create her own shot. We should see plenty of those traits on display this Sunday.
Indiana Fever +3.5 (-110)
Storm vs Fever | 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
To put it nicely, the Fever have a below-average defense this season, ranking 11th in defensive rating, only ahead of the six-win Dallas Wings.
While they have done a really solid job at protecting the paint, allowing the third-fewest points in the paint to opponents during the 2024 campaign, there is a glaring weakness: 3-point defense.
This season, the Fever are allowing opponents to shoot and knock down 3s at an alarming rate, ranking 11th (out of 12 teams) in opponent 3-point attempts and ninth in opponent 3-point shooting percentage.
Here’s the good news: Seattle is the worst 3-point shooting team in the WNBA, hitting only 29.8% of its attempts. Indiana will be able to pack the paint and lean on Aliyah Boston’s interior defense to keep this game close.
As long as Seattle doesn’t get hot from deep, this should be a tight one, especially with the way Clark has been playing lately.
