Caitlin Clark, Rhyne Howard exchange words during Fever’s heated win against Dream

Caitlin Clark was involved in another heated exchange

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Caitlin Clark had a frustrating night Thursday as her 140-game streak with a 3-pointer — dating back to her college days at Iowa — ended during the Indiana Fever’s win over the Atlanta Dream. Rhyne Howard aggressively defended Clark, who was under pressure early and it sparked a brief exchange in the first quarter following a common foul.

“I’m not scared of you,” Clark appeared to say as the two were separated.

The foul occurred late in the first quarter near half court as Clark brought the ball up the floor. Howard seemingly took issue with a potential hold, and both players exchanged contact. The physical moment comes less than a week after Clark was involved in a confrontation with Angel Reese in the season opener — continuing a trend of physical play surrounding the WNBA star.

Clark scored just 11 points and went without a 3-pointer for the first time in her WNBA career. Indiana bounced back with an 81–76 road win against Atlanta, two days after a narrow 91–90 loss to the Dream in which the Fever missed a potential game-winner in the final seconds.

Natasha Howard shines as Caitlin Clark struggles for Fever

Veteran forward Natasha Howard bounced back from Tuesday’s missed game-winner with a dominant 26-point performance Thursday, hitting 12 of 17 shots and adding seven rebounds, two assists and a steal in 29 minutes to help lift the Fever as Clark struggled.

“Getting out of my own head,” Howard said, when asked what the difference was between her performance in this game. “I was in my own way. But thank God I have my teammates behind me to bring that confidence out of me tonight. I couldn’t do it without them and my coaching staff as well.”

The Indiana trio of Clark, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell were slowed by the physical Atlanta defense, combining for just 32 points on 13-of-37 shooting. Howard took over in the third quarter, pouring in 13 of her 26 points to maintain the Fever’s lead heading into the fourth quarter. She delivered in crunch time, too, sparking a game-closing 10-1 run with a crafty reverse layup that trimmed a narrow deficit to two with just over two minutes left.

Indiana scored 13 of the final 20 points in the final four minutes to secure the win and improve to 2-1 on the season.

The Fever are back in action Saturday against New York Liberty on CBS. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. ET.

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