Clark bests Bueckers in clash of No. 1 picks as Fever top Wings - ESPN

INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers will share a backcourt at the FIBA World Cup next month in Berlin, making their long-anticipated debuts at a major international event for the U.S. senior national team. But Friday night in Indianapolis, the two No. 1 picks went blow for blow with dueling 29-point performances, as Clark's Indiana Fever used a big fourth quarter to best Bueckers' short-handed Dallas Wings 98-87.

Clark, a third-year guard out of Iowa, finished with her seventh game of at least 25 points and 10 assists this season, which is more than any player in league history has in their career. She holds the career record with 13 such games.

«She's like a maestro, the way that she really runs our offense,» Fever coach Stephanie White said. «I think when we're at our best, she is instructing, she is running it much like a show, and it's tough to match up with us when she's commanding the floor like that.»

Added Indiana guard Ty Harris: «I'm in awe watching CC play. Sometimes it's like, it's normal [what she's doing], and it's not.»

Devastating Dallas off the drive for much of the game, Clark scored or assisted on 51% of the Fever's points. Bueckers, who also finished with six assists and six rebounds, fared almost identically, scoring or assisting on 50% of the Wings' points.

The first half was relatively low scoring for two of the league's top offenses, with the Wings leading 37-35 at the break and the teams combining for 6-of-31 shooting from the 3-point arc. But Clark and Bueckers took over in the third quarter, trading buckets and eliciting cheers from their respective fanbases amid Gainbridge Fieldhouse's sellout crowd.

The two combined for 30 points on 11-for-15 shooting (3-for-5 from 3) in the third