CHICAGO — Before Friday’s game, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese each said they were not interested in the Rookie of the Year race.

“Both teams are fighting for a spot in the play-offs and that is our main focus,” Clark said.

“I think you guys made something big out of it,” Reese said.

It might not be that big of a problem not at all how Clark’s season is going.

The battle between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese for the title of Rookie of the Year has been a hot topic all season.

But both players say they don’t care at all and stress that they are mainly focused on reaching the play-offs with their team. photo.twitter.com/8vWej3Xkpo

— The Athletics (@TheAthletic) August 30, 2024

Behind a season-high 31 points from Clark, the Indiana Fever (16-16) crushed the Chicago Sky 100-81 and continued their blistering pace since the month-long Olympic break by winning for the fifth time in six games. They swept the Sky’s season series, 3-1.

Clark went 8 of 14 from the field, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range, and went 10 of 11 from the free throw line. Additionally, Clark had 12 assists and three turnovers in 32 minutes. She is averaging 24 points and 8.5 assists since the break.

The fading Sky (11-20) lost for the sixth time in seven games since the break. Their leading scorer, quicksilver guard Chennedy Carter, missed her second game in a row according to health and safety protocol, although starting guards Lindsay Allen and Rachel Banham combined for 33 points.

Reese had 10 points and 11 rebounds on a bad night. Since the break, Reese’s shooting struggles have been apparent, but she’s still averaging 12.1 points and 16.1 rebounds, led by three straight 20-rebound games. Reese passed Tina Charles for most rebounds by a rookie with 399.

The Fever passed Phoenix Mercury (16-16) for sixth place – Indiana has won all three of their head-to-head matches – while the eighth-place Sky are just a half-game ahead of Atlanta Dream for the final play-off spot, though Chicago holds the head-to-head tiebreaker.

A matchup against two teams from the bottom half of the playoffs doesn’t always fill arenas and draw courtside celebrities like Shaquille O’Neal and Sue Bird And Megan Rapinoe, Chicago Bears Tremaine Edmunds and D’Andre Swift and Bulls first round pick Matas Buzelisbut Clark vs. Reese is the head-to-head matchup people have been talking about since their NCAA tournament donnybrooks.

And that rivalry has spilled over into the WNBA.

Early June, the teams had an exciting match in Indiana and then at the end of the month, the Sky won a nail-biter in the Wintrust Arena.

The league has benefited from the drama, but the rookies are just now They are trying to survive a tough schedule before the play-offs begin in late September.

“Our focus is on winning basketball games,” Clark said. “It’s simple like that. It’s winning basketball games. And that was the same story for us when we were at the university.”

There wasn’t much in it terms of fireworks in this game, but with 3:52 left on the clock and the Fever leading 96-71, Sky guard Diamond DeShields collided with Clark on the break. The transition to take foul was upgraded to a flagrant-1 foul. Clark made both free throws and was out of the game.

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(Photo: Icon Sportswire/Getty Images)