Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark suffered an apparent injury in Monday night’s game against the Connecticut Sun.
In the second quarter of the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Clark appeared to take a misstep and hurt her ankle. She was removed from the game and went back to the locker room.
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Clark returned to the game to begin the third quarter. Here’s a video of the play:
ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe said on the ESPN telecast that Clark was expected to be able to return to the game. She was seen on the sidelines standing up and cheering on her teammates. She was also seen stretching out her ankle with a resistance band.
Finally, in the third quarter, Clark returned. The Fever took a 44-41 lead into halftime following an 8-0 run.
Clark, however, wasn’t on the court for the second-quarter surge. She missed the final four minutes of the half.
Through her first 11 minutes on the court, Clark had eight points on 2-of-6 shooting from the field. She made two 3-pointers and two rebounds to go along with two turnovers.
The Fever are looking to get their first win of the season after an 0-3 start to the year. They were blown out by the Sun in the season opener, 92-71, and then lost back-to-back games to the New York Liberty. The first one was a 102-66 blowout at home. The second one was a 91-80 loss in New York.
Monday marked the Fever’s first halftime lead of the season.
Entering Monday night’s game, Clark was averaging 17.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 7.0 turnovers per game on 40 percent shooting from the field, 32.1 percent shooting from deep, and 100 percent shooting from the line.
Against the Sun, who began the season 2-0, the Fever were getting contributions across the board. Kelsey Mitchell’s contributed 12 in the first half. Nalyssa Smith added 10. The Fever’s depth was showing up, with eight players playing at least eight minutes in the first half. Conversely, just six Sun players played at least eight minutes in the first half.
The Fever have been a trendy WNBA team for fans of Clark to follow as she transitions from NCAA Division I basketball, whose all-time scoring record she broke as a senior, into the professional ranks.
Yet the Fever only “earned” the No. 1 pick in this year’s WNBA draft by playing to a 13-27 record last season — sixth in the league’s six-team Eastern Conference. Their slow start is hardly a surprise despite Clark’s outsized fan following.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
