Matt Calkins: Caitlin Clark hardly dominant halfway through her first WNBA season

It was exactly the version of Clark that folks had paid to see. The only problem is that she didn't make another field goal for the rest of the game.

It seemed as though the Storm's second-half strategy was to deny Clark any daylight from deep, throw double teams at her when she drove and make her teammates beat them. And since Clark appears to be surrounded by one of the more futile supporting casts in the league, her teammates are rarely going to beat a team on the Storm's level.

Missed layups were abundant, particularly from last year's No. 1 overall pick, Aliyah Boston. But this was not a game in which Caitlin could blame her teammates, even if she were the type to ever do so. The fact is that Clark is displaying certain limitations as she nears the halfway point of her first WNBA season. Yes, she helped Indiana go from 1-8 to 7-10 before dropping these last two, but she's hardly dominant.

Turnovers continue to be an issue, and she had a game-high six of them on Thursday. Her 5.6 turnovers per game are 1.7 more than anyone else in the league, through Thursday, and hardly offsets her 6.6 assists, which are third in the league. Many of these are avoidable, and can make her an offensive liability despite the 16.3 points and 5.4 rebounds she is averaging.

Whether it is to her credit or detriment, Clark didn't force the issue. There weren't a lot of errant second-half shots from her Thursday, but only because she took just two second-half shots.

Storm coach Noelle Quinn commended Caitlin's ability to pass the ball early while blitzing her on ball screens, but also noted that taking the ball out of her hands made her less assertive down the stretch. Clark knows that.

"I could definitely be a little bit more aggressive to the basket," Clark said.

But then she added: "When you get blitzed you're just going to have to give the ball up. That's just how it rolls."

There was just one team out there that's really rollin', and that's the Storm, who have won 10 of their past 13 and just got 34 points from Jewel Loyd. The Clark-led Fever have yet to prove they can compete with the league's best.

That explains that resting look on Caitlin's face. The good news for the league? She's not gonna rest till she figures it out.