Christie Sides Under Fire After Justifying Caitlin Clark Decision in Fever-Aces

On Friday evening, Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever suffered their fourth loss of the season to the Las Vegas Aces, 78-74. The Fever have fallen back down to .500 and will need to win their final two games to finish the season with a winning record.

With less than 30 seconds left in the game and the Fever down by three, coach Christie Sides drew up a play during a timeout for forward Aliyah Boston to attempt a game-tying three. She chose Boston over more dangerous shooting threats on the Fever like Clark, Kelsey Mitchell and even Lexie Hull.

Boston missed, and the Fever lost.

In a postgame interview, Sides justified why she went to Boston instead of Clark or Mitchell.

"People know it's going to be really hard to get Caitlin a shot in those possessions," Sides said. "I had all the confidence in her to take that shot. Teams are going to scheme against Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell. They’re going to do everything they can to make sure someone else takes that 3.”

For the season, Boston is shooting below 30% from three. Clark and Mitchell have proven themselves to be much more reliable from beyond the arc.

Even after Sides explained her reason to go to Boston, WNBA fans were left unhappy and voiced their concerns online.

"They shouldn’t be able to take away Clark and Mitchell if you draw it up right. No excuse," one fan said.

"You need to scheme to get those two open as they are clutch 3 pt shooters. AB is clutch too, but closer to the rim."

"SHE REALLY DREW THE PLAY TO AB. OMG THIS IS WORSE THAN I THINK. I was just joking early thinking that the real play didn’t come and it was just a random shoot"

"Dumbest coach I have ever seen in my life dawg. How about you scheme to make them Open??"

"Literally every player on the floor was a better 3point shooter. lmao"

"Sides is the worst coach ever! CC, KM and Lexie and Dantas even hitting.. they can't guard everyone and you choose your big who hit what? 7 3s this year?"

As good of a player Boston is, she is a much bigger threat in the post than she is away from the basket. But for what it's worth, the play Sides created worked very well, giving Boston a wide-open look in the corner.

Related: Caitlin Clark's 'Crazy' Response To Critical 6th Technical Foul

Related: Fans Worried for Caitlin Clark as WNBA Suspension Looms