Caitlin Clark fever grips LA as over 19,000 fans swarm into Crypto.com Arena to set record

Another road trip for Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, another attendance record broken. A crowd of 19,103 filed into Crypto.com Arena on Friday to see the Fever notch their first win of the WNBA season against the LA Sparks, setting the single-game attendance record for the Los Angeles outfit. This was the sixth straight sellout for the Indiana Fever.

Judging by the sea of white Fever jerseys, much of the sellout crowd came for Clark, who didn’t disappoint. She produced an assured performance and, despite scoring only 11 points, emerged as the hero for the Indiana Fever, who downed the Sparks 78-73.

The 6-foot guard drained two clutch 3-pointers in the final minutes to end Indiana’s five-game losing streak. She also chipped in with 10 rebounds and eight assists.

The Fever (1-5) have very little time to rest as they head straight to Las Vegas to face the Aces (2-1) on Saturday night.

Caitlin Clark meets Hollywood royalty Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis after first win

Among those in attendance were fellow Iowan Ashton Kutcher and his wife Mila Kunis. Shortly after the game ended, the Hollywood power couple greeted the Fever rookie and offered some brief words of encouragement. Kutcher's daughter was reduced to tears at seeing her idol.

When asked about Kutcher's presence, Clark said:

“He thinks he knows ball, I don’t know. We have to play 1 on 1. That’s a fellow Hawkeye who’s been very supportive of me over the course of my college career and now here. His kids were adorable, I gave them little high-fives there after I got the first win but he was encouraging me the whole game, so it’s fun to have him courtside. He’s the man.”

Clark reiterated that she is very happy to be at Indiana and that she feels a noticeable change in her performance in the past couple of games, suggesting she's adapting well to the league's demands.

“I feel pretty comfortable over the last couple of games, last three or four. I think just playing with different energy about myself and confidence. I just try to remind myself this is not all about the scoring and it’s not all about the shots going in, like how I’m going to impact the game in other ways. I thought I did really a good job on that,” Clark said.

Clark is averaging 16.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 1.2 steals per game in six outings, with her partner-in-crime Aliyah Boston contributing 9.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.