Maybe it was relief from Caitlin Clark.
Maybe it was disbelief.
Or maybe it was something different altogether.
But the Fever star was caught grinning while walking back to the bench behind a distraught Angel Reese, who had just missed a putback under the basket that would have won an intense game for the Dream in regulation on Sunday night.
The Fever ultimately won 95-91 in overtime.
Rhyne Howard missed a 3-pointer, but Reese was able to grab a rebound on the right side of the basket with the Fever’s Aliyah Boston on her back and unable to meaningfully contest her shot with the score tied at 81.
Reese’s putback with three seconds left did not make it over the right side of the rim, and Naz Hillmon’s layup attempt was stifled by Boston with Clark watching from the other side of the court.
As Reese was being consoled by her teammates, an ESPN camera caught a smiling Clark looking in the direction of her rival — dating back to their college days — in a clip that has since gone viral.
Clark, who had 26 points and nine assists, made two free throws with 9.8 seconds left to seal the Fever’s win — their fourth straight and 11th in their last 14 games.
Indiana has continued surging despite plenty of off-the-court noise revolving around Sophie Cunningham’s comments in support of keeping trans athletes out of women’s sports and whether coach Stephanie White has shown the forward enough support after DiJonai Carrington’s flagrant foul against Cunningham.
Reese, despite the missed layup, played well overall.
She had 15 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for a Dream team that sits 1 ½ games behind the Fever for the No. 4 seed.
