Valkyries Coach Makes Feelings Clear on Caitlin Clark Before Indiana Fever Game

Before hosting the Fever on Sunday at the Chase Center, Nakase explained why Clark is so effective for the Fever and also why Mitchell has been able to effectively carry the load for Indiana's offense while the typical catalyst Clark been working to get back on the court

“Obviously without Caitlin, the scoring onus is put on everyone else a little bit more because she can shoot obviously from the logo,” Nakase said. “She has increased her game on so many levels and obviously her passing has always been there. But now with Kelsey Mitchell, she is coming off, pin downs, coming off staggers. She's coming off pick-and-rolls. A lot of her shots are within action, but a lot of them also are in transition.”

Sunday's Fever-Valkyries Game And What It Means

The Valkyries (21-18) entered Sunday's game as the No. 8 seed, a half-game behind Seattle (22-19) and Indiana (22-18) for the sixth and seventh seeds, respectively. The Valkyries are 2.5 games ahead of the Los Angeles Sparks (17-20), who are the first team out of the playoffs at present.

The Valkyries' schedule to end the regular season won't exactly do them any favors in the playoff race, making Sunday's game against a banged-up opponent in the Fever even more crucial. Golden State still has two games against the league-best Lynx, a game against the defending champion New York Liberty, and a game against the likely playoff-bound Seattle Storm still remaining.

To complicate matters, tip-off at the Chase Center was delayed 26 minutes on Sunday due to a shot-clock malfunction, which is the first real procedural hiccup in what has been a relativelty flawless inaugural season for the expansion franchise.