Caitlin Clark comes crashing back down to earth as even Dave Portnoy admits she was 'terrible' in Fever loss

Daily Mail​

8 hours ago

Barstool Sports boss and renowned Caitlin Clark superfan Dave Portnoy shockingly took aim at the Indiana Fever star Thursday night.
Just two days on from staunchly defending the 23-year-old, Portnoy slammed her performance against the Golden State Valkyries - but somehow still managed to find a silver lining.
The Fever - who were without head coach Stephanie White due to 'personal reasons' - were stunned by the Valkyries, suffering an 88-77 loss on the West Coast.
And Clark, who was thrust back into the spotlight earlier this week following a contentious clash against the Connecticut Sun, was largely anonymous.
The guard managed just 11 points against former Iowa teammate Kate Martin and the Valkyries, and loyal supporter Portnoy criticized her display.
'Caitlin had terrible game,' the 49-year-old admitted on X. 'Happy for Kate Martin though. Also Golden State is 1st crowd I've seen that was a true home crowd that was there for their team and not for Caitlin. Good for WNBA.'
The Barstool Sports founder admitted that the Indiana Fever star was 'terrible'
Clark has been an undeniable boost for the league's popularity over the past year, drawing in sold-out crowds both home and away.
But she wilted in front of the sea of black and purple Thursday night as the fans packed inside Chase Center wildly cheered three-pointers from Kayla Thornton and Tiffany Hayes rather than the WNBA's biggest name.
The raucous crowd roared as the Valkyries (6-6) sold out their sixth straight home game to start the season, a matchup circled on the calendar for the expansion franchise from the day the schedule was released.
Yet, just days after being shoved to the ground by Sun rival Marina Mabrey, Clark was a shadow of herself with the defeat marking just her second game in the WNBA without a three-pointer.
Clark struggled to find her shooting touch and finished 3 for 14 and 0 of 7 on threes. She missed her initial six shots before a layup at the 4:12 mark of the second quarter and recorded seven rebounds and nine assists.
In comparison, Thornton hit two key three-pointers over the final 4:57 and scored 16 points to go with six rebounds to help the Valkyries rally past the Fever.
And Portnoy wasn't alone in his criticism as sports analyst Skip Bayless was also quick to point out her failures.
'Man, what a terrible shooting night for Caitlin Clark at Valks as Fever blow a lead: She was 3-14 and 0-7 from 3 as Indy loses by 11 to fall to 6-5,' the former Fox Sports analyst posted.
The game was also lacking of debacle and drama as there were no bust-ups after the Fever´s 88-71 home win against Connecticut featured three late ejections and further discipline.
Clark's on-court woes came two days after she found herself at the center of a number of skirmishes against the Sun.
Clark was prodded in the eye was jabbed in the eye by Connecticut 's Jacy Sheldon, who had previously been caught in a heated exchange with the Fever guard, before being slammed to the floor by Mabrey in a violent moment which sparked outrage online.
Mabrey was shockingly not ejected from the game and was instead assessed just a technical - which has since been upgraded to a flagrant 2.
Meanwhile, Clark's teammate and friend Sophie Cunningham was assessed with a flagrant foul and immediately ejected from the heated contest late in the game.
With 46.1 seconds remaining in the game, Cunningham wrapped her arms around the Sun guard's head and pulling her to the ground in an act of revenge after her foul on Clark.