Clark looked like herself again in her first game for the Indiana Fever since July, but went down following a collision.
The stage was set for a welcoming celebration with Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark playing her first home game in over nine months. Unfortunately, it was more of a fright than anything when Clark went down in the third quarter after colliding with Dallas Wings forward Alanna Smith. It led to Clark exiting the contest, though she insisted postgame that she ultimately was fine following the 95-80 loss to the Wings in the WNBA preseason.
Clark crumpled following the collision and ended up limping off the court while they reviewed the foul that ultimately resulted in a flagrant 1 called on Smith. Clark did successfully make her two free throws before exiting. And she may have headed to the bench regardless, as coach Stephanie White said that a third quarter exit was preplanned out of precaution.
The anticipation was high for a preseason game, and Clark delivered in her three quarters of play. She scored 14 of her 21 points in the first quarter and went 4-of-6 from the field and 11-of-13 on free throws in 16 minutes of play, adding four assists, three turnovers, and two rebounds to her stat line. For one, the contest featured the past two Rookies of the Year and No. 1 overall picks in Clark and Dallas’ Paige Bueckers. But the real draw for Fever fans was Clark back home, who went down in July last year with a right groin injury that cost her the All-Star game and final 22 regular-season games that led to a run through the WNBA semifinals.
To read more from Clark’s homecoming and subsequent scare, here is the full story from WNBA Roundtable writer Grant Afseth.
The game brought out lengthy autograph lines and seats with No. 22 jerseys, but the victors were the Wings, whose last two No. 1 picks both shined in Bueckers and Azzi Fudd. Bueckers scored 20 points in 20 minutes while the rookie Fudd recorded four points in 16 minutes.
As for Clark, it was a long time coming awaiting her home return ahead of what’s thought to be a big season for Indiana building off of last year’s run, and her preseason debut looked like she was back to her superstar form.