INDIANAPOLIS -- The duel between the top two guard pairings in the WNBA ended early and on a disappointing note after the Toronto Tempo's Brittney Sykes left the court in the third quarter with a noncontact foot injury and did not return.
Sykes came into Tuesday's game against the Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Arena as the No. 3 scorer in the league at 20.7 points per game. She and Marina Mabrey were the No. 2 scoring guard duo (38.6 points per game) behind Indiana's Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell (40.6).
The Tempo trailed by three when Sykes went down, and the Fever pulled away with a 113-91 victory. The 113 points were the most scored in a regulation game in franchise history.
Tempo coach Sandy Brondello didn't have an update but said Sykes will be evaluated and the hope was the injury isn't too serious. The four-time all-defense selection was seen in a hallway after the game riding a medical scooter with ice around her left foot. She seemed to be in good spirits.
Sykes stood on the right wing midway through the third quarter when she went to cut toward the basket and collapsed near the right elbow without being touched. She walked to the locker room with both arms around the shoulders of Toronto staff.
Injuries have piled up for the Tempo. Nyara Sabally missed the past three games with a right hamstring injury and Kiki Rice has missed five straight with a left ankle injury. Julie Allemand played just 11 minutes because of a "really bad headache," Brondello explained.
"Obviously, she's been playing so good for us and doing so much for us at both ends of the floor," Brondello said of Sykes, whose nickname is "Slim."
"So when you lose one of your best players, it's tough.
"We couldn't find ways that we could fill Slim's shoes, that's going to be really hard."
Sykes finished with 11 points, three assists and two rebounds in 19 minutes. Laura Juskaite led Toronto with 19 points, and Mabrey added 18 points and seven assists.
Mabrey looked to the sideline and shook her head after consoling Sykes, who pounded her fist on the floor as teammates gathered around her.
"You saw my face when Slim went down, that kind of says it all," Mabrey said.
The Fever outscored the Tempo 51-32 after Sykes left the game. Toronto has now lost three straight.
With the victory, Indiana has won a season-high four in a row and five of six. Mitchell scored a game-high 27 points, and Clark chipped in 21 points, 14 assists and five rebounds. The 14 assists tied for the fifth most in a single game in WNBA history, and Clark now has 23 career double-doubles, including four this season. Clark holds the league record of 19 assists in a single game, set during her rookie year in 2024. Collecting another record, she became the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 250-plus points and 100-plus assists in a season (13 games). That surpassed her own record of 17 games set in 2024.
Clark scored or assisted on 54 points, and she holds the league record of 12 games having scored or assisted on 50-plus points. Diana Taurasi is No. 2 with 10.
Sophie Cunningham poured in 24 points off the bench as she tied a career high with six 3-pointers.