Caitlin Clark’s sophomore season has been interrupted by a quad strain.
The Indiana Fever have been forced to park Caitlin Clark.
The Fever announced Monday that the sophomore sensation and franchise face will miss at least two weeks with a strained quad. Clark will be re-evaluated at that time as Indiana (2-2) works through a four-game set in that span.
Through four games, Clark had avoided a sophomore slump to the tune of 19.0-point, 9.3-assist, and 6.0-rebound averages. That tally included a triple-double in the season-opening win over Chicago on May 17, the third of her young WNBA career.
Clark’s deep ball, however, had struggled to fall in recent games, as she was 2-of-17 in her last couple. That included an 0-of-5 output in Thursday’s win over Atlanta, which marked the first time she had gone fruitless from three since, ironically enough, her sophomore season at Iowa.
Clark later had 18 points and 10 assists in a Saturday loss to the defending champion New York Liberty, which also saw her lose 10 turnovers. The backcourt star previously sat out of a preseason game earlier this spring due to what she described as quad tightness.
With Clark in tow, the Fever has split its first four but the two losses have come by a combined three points. Indiana faces the Washington Mystics on Wednesday night in Baltimore (7:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV) before hosting the Connecticut Sun on Friday. Next week’s slate also features two games, as the Fever faces the Mystics at home before getting a rematch in Chicago.
Clark’s absence could open an opportunity for Sophie Cunningham, who made her Fever debut on Thursday after an early ankle injury. Other backcourt threats in the Indiana stable include Lexie Hull and Kelsey Mitchell while the team also works in newcomer Natasha Howard next to Clark’s fellow top overall pick Aliyah Boston.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
