Caitlin Clark to miss 5th straight game for Fever with a strained left groin
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark will miss her fifth consecutive game with a strained left groin for the Indiana Fever when they host Los Angeles.
The Fever announced Clark's status on Friday, a day before their game against the Sparks. Clark's most recent absence came Thursday night when she sat out Indiana's 81-54 win over Las Vegas as the Fever snapped a 16-game losing streak against the Aces.
She also missed the WNBA Commissioner's Cup victory over the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday, which did not count toward the regular-season standings.
Clark, the first overall pick in the 2024 draft and one of the two captains selected for the WNBA All-Star Game later this month, never missed a game in college at Iowa or with the Fever as a rookie. A strained quadriceps earlier this season kept her out for five games.
___
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/WNBA
recommended
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fans Said Same Thing About Caitlin Clark After Indiana Fever Loss On Saturday
Fans Said Same Thing About Caitlin Clark After Indiana Fever Loss On Saturday originally appeared on The Spun. Despite going up against one of the WNBA's worst teams, the Indiana Fever couldn't get the job done as they lost to the Los Angeles Sparks today. Advertisement With superstar Caitlin Clark missing her fourth straight game due to an injury, the combination of Aari McDonald and Sophie Cunningham were once again called upon to fill the void. But today they simply couldn't as they combined for just eight points and a brutal 0-8 on three-point attempts. The starting trio of Natasha Howard, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston did the majority of the heavy lifting with all three accounting for at least 19 points. Boston enjoyed a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds. It just wasn't enough though and the end result was an 89-87 loss to the Sparks. Prior to the game, many on social media had noted that the Fever had been playing really well in the absence of Caitlin Clark and didn't even need her to win games. In fairness, they had won back-to-back games, including a rare win over the Aces. Advertisement By far the biggest voice to make that assertion was women's basketball legend Carolyn Peck, who asserted on SportsCenter that the Fever would be "more dangerous" without Clark. "I think that Indiana is even more dangerous when Caitlin Clark doesn't play, because she's a ball-dominant guard," Peck said in a video that quickly went viral. "The ball's in her hands a lot, so you know what you need to try to take away. But when you look at Indiana now, they've got so many weapons." BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - MAY 28: Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever takes a photo before the game against the Washington Mystics at CFG Bank Arena on May 28, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by)But after that loss, fans took to social media to mock those who dared argue that the Fever could win without Clark: Advertisement "It turns out the Fever are not more dangerous without Caitlin Clark," radio personality Robin Lundberg wrote. "Shoutout to all the dummies who said the Fever were better without Caitlin! Like HUGE shoutout to you," wrote another. "RIP to 'The Fever are better without Caitlin Clark' July 2025-July 2025," a third wrote. "If you can't see how incredibly limited the Indiana Fever are on offense without Caitlin Clark, you're either not watching or don't know what you're watching." Suffice it to say, Clark's detractors took an L today. Related: Caitlin Clark Says Only 1 WNBA Legend Talked Trash to Her Fans Said Same Thing About Caitlin Clark After Indiana Fever Loss On Saturday first appeared on The Spun on Jul 6, 2025 Advertisement This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jul 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
Indianapolis Star
an hour ago
- Indianapolis Star
Playing ninth game in 18 days, Indiana Fever lose intensity against Sparks: 'We gotta lock in'
INDIANAPOLIS — After holding their opponents under 60 points for two straight games, the Indiana Fever were just a step too slow against the Sparks. And that broke the Fever's three-game winning streak, as Indiana suffered an 89-87 loss to Los Angeles (6-13). Indiana is now 0-2 against Los Angeles this season, as the Sparks left Indianapolis with an 85-75 win on June 26. 'In games like this, we just have to have a different level of focus from the start,' Fever guard Sydney Colson said. 'Especially when we know that, you know, a team has already won on our home court.' Indiana's defensive intensity was lacking on Saturday night, especially after a stretch of multiple impressive defensive games. The Fever (9-9) held the league-leading Lynx to 59 points, including an eight-minute stretch in the second quarter when Minnesota didn't score, for the Commissioner's Cup championship on Tuesday night. Indiana then returned to Indianapolis to hold Las Vegas to 54 points, recording a win over the Aces for the first time since 2019. It was a needed intensity on defense, especially with Fever star Caitlin Clark out with a groin injury. Indiana still was able to find a groove in those games, turning their stifling defense into offense. Buy Fever Pitch! IndyStar's book on Caitlin Clark's rookie season But that defensive intensity didn't translate against the Sparks. Indiana struggled with rotations and switches, allowing Los Angeles (6-13) to run actions and make easy buckets. 'We got to be better with personnel defense, so that when, you know, a play breaks down and players start to go one-on-one, it doesn't matter what people's records are at that point, like they score on all teams in this league,' Colson said. "And we got to understand what they want to do, what's their go-to, and don't let them do that, make them do something different. Our rotations and our reads, like our trap-in, wasn't great and, yeah, we were a step slow, I think, on a lot of stuff.' That change in defensive intensity could've been for a variety of reasons. Indiana struggled in knowing their personnel and anticipating their movements, putting them behind the ball in multiple situations. Indiana was also on a day's rest, playing their ninth game in 18 days. That kind of stretch included a three-game West Coast road trip, an extra game in Minnesota for the Commissioner's Cup, and nine available players for five of those games because of Clark's injury and Damiris Dantas' absence for AmeriCup. That stretch, on any team and any player, is difficult. It means less practice time, more strenuous activity and fewer opportunities to prepare for that next opponent. Still, there's ways to combat that physical fatigue. 'If there's a day where you feel like maybe you're a step slow, our anticipation has to be better, our activity has to be better,' Fever coach Stephanie White said. '... So we have to combat, if there's some physical, physical, you know, tiredness, we have to combat that with mental sharpness." Needed jolt: The Fever 'thank God for' midseason addition Aari McDonald The Fever may have been, and rightfully so, tired. But, Colson said, fatigue is not an excuse. 'We gotta lock in, whether it's fatigue, you're tired, not as focused, like we just gotta check ourselves and one another,' Colson said. 'Make sure that we're really honed in on what we're supposed to be doing, so that we can start putting full 40s together.' Indiana is 9-9 with three games left in the five-game homestand. It's a massive opportunity for the Fever, being at home for so long, to gain some ground in the standings. And Indiana has shown improvement over this tough stretch. That improvement is just something they'll have to show consistently. 'I think the last two games before this are more indicative of who we're becoming, the direction that we're going in,' Colson said. 'But it's not going to be perfect all the time.'
Indianapolis Star
an hour ago
- Indianapolis Star
Fever's alternate identity shows up, but believe consistency 'gradually going to happen'
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever have won four of their last six games, including a Commissioner's Cup finals victory over the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday. The two losses have come at the hands of the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks defeated the Fever 89-87 on Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, their second win at Indiana in nine days. The Fever were without star Caitlin Clark, who missed her fifth straight game due to a left groin injury. Sparks forward Azura Stevens scored 21 points and collected 12 rebounds. Sparks guard Kelsey Plum added 20 points. Fever forward Aliyah Boston led all scorers with 23 points and had 12 boards. Natasha Howard had 21 points and Kelsey Mitchell finished with 19. Fever coach Stephanie White praised Los Angeles for exploiting matchups, in particular when Stevens and Sparks forward Rickea Jackson had smaller players guarding them. White said the Sparks' length affected the Fever's decision making and felt Indiana over penetrated at times and didn't capitalize on reads. Buy Fever Pitch! IndyStar's book on Caitlin Clark's memorable season The Commissioner's Cup final doesn't count as a regular season game. As a result, the Fever (9-9) have yet to win three consecutive regular season contests. To ensure consistency moving forward, White emphasized the need for a 'high attention to knowing personnel,' including 'who we're going to run off the 3-point line' and 'what we're willing to give up.' The Sparks (6-13) shot 45.5% from 3 while the Fever shot 35% from beyond the arc. 'The other piece is making sure we continue to encourage our team to be disruptive,' White said. 'L.A. moved the ball too easily. I don't mean disruptive physically, but not allowing them to move the ball whenever they wanted to.' Fever guard Sydney Colson finished with six points in 15 minutes. Colson believes consistency will come with time. 'Gradually going to happen over time, and we've seen it over the course of the season, there's been peaks and valleys,' Colson said. 'And you try to lessen how many valleys there are and get to a point where we're having more peaks.' Before Saturday's game, Indiana held its previous two opponents below 60 points. To Colson, both of those performances reflect the team's identity more than the loss to the Sparks. Gratitude: The Fever 'thank God for' midseason addition Aari McDonald, who is 5-2 with Indiana 'The last two games are more indicative of who we're becoming and the direction we're going in, but it's not gonna be perfect all the time,' Colson said. 'In games like this, we just have to have a different level of focus from the start, especially when we know that a team has already been on our home court.'
