Statisticians strangely don’t count multiple clear-cut Caitlin Clark assists vs Mystics

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Something strange happened in the Friday night matchup between the Indiana Fever and the Washington Mystics.

No, I’m not talking about the Fever only scoring nine points in the second quarter, or Aliyah Boston being a non-factor in her second straight game. I’m talking about the statisticians refusing to award two assists to Caitlin Clark, which stole a historic achievement from her.

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Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever celebrating after scoring a basket at Gainbridge Fieldhouse

The two plays in question:

With less than six minutes to go in the Fever’s abysmal second quarter, Clark drove the lane, drawing two defenders, and then darted a wraparound pass to Monique Billings, who cashed a catch-and-shoot corner 3 to cut the Mystics’ lead to 2. Some have claimed that the pass was slightly tipped, but even if it was, an assist can still count if the pass was slightly tipped, depending on whether the official scorer believes the original pass directly led to the basket, which it did.
The second questionable omission was with 30 seconds left in regulation, a crucial play in the Fever’s ferocious comeback to send the game to overtime. Clark raced up the floor with the Fever down six, dribbling to the right side of the arc where she, once again, drew a double team, leading to a shovel pass to Kelsey Mitchell, who nailed a three. The pass undoubtedly led to the basket, yet no assist was awarded.]

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The interesting aspect in all of this is that assist decisions are generally handled by official scorers and statisticians using league statistical guidelines and judgment rather than a written gameplay rule in the public rulebook that speaks specifically to slightly deflected passes or hand-offs and shovel passes.

If the pass to the intended target leads to a bucket, without drastically changing direction, or causing the player to make an extra effort to reach the pass, it should be an assist. It’s definitely something the league should take a look at and correct, in my opinion.

If this is indeed corrected by the league, Clark would have only the sixth 30-point, 10-assist game in WNBA history. Plus, Clark would become the first player to ever do it twice. It would have been a historic milestone on top of being the fastest player to reach 1,000+ points, 250+ assists and 250+ rebounds, doing it in just 54 games, breaking Diana Tarausi’s record of 62 games.

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I consider this a huge story from a betting standpoint as well. What about the folks who put money down on Caitlin Clark getting a double-double or over 9.5 assists? Whether you like it or not, betting is a massive part of the sports experience and many are putting bets down on the WNBA’s most exciting player.

This isn’t just about personal milestones for Clark, or integrity in the way the stats are recorded, it affects fans pocketbooks. WNBA, do the right thing here. Acknowledge and award Clark her well-earned assists.

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