Caitlin Clark's playoff debut was marred by a black eye sustained during an accidental clash in her team's loss to the Connecticut Sun. The Indiana Fever's standout rookie missed 10 of her first 11 shots before finishing with 11 points and eight assists in the 93-69 defeat on Sunday. Alyssa Thompson of the Sun was the standout performer, recording a triple-double with 12 points, 13 assists, and 10 rebounds.
"I felt like we just played a crappy game," Clark remarked. "The flow of the game was really bad." The AP's Rookie of the Year took responsibility for the loss and dismissed the eye injury as an excuse for her poor performance. "Got me pretty good in the eye; I don't think it affected me," she said of the first-quarter injury. "I felt like I got good shots, they just didn't go down. Tough time for that to happen. I thought I got some really good looks. Three pretty wide open threes in the first half, you usually make."
Clark's shooting woes continued into the third quarter before the Fever called a timeout. Frustration boiled over as she smacked a chair on the bench. This seemed to spark her, as she hit her next three shots. However, Connecticut's Marina Mabrey took control, scoring 11 of her 27 points in the third quarter, and the Fever couldn't recover.
"My shot felt like it was right there," Clark said, who finished 4 for 17 from the field, missing 11 of 13 three-point attempts. "It's so frustrating as a shooter when it won't go down for you. That's what [stink] about it. … We were right there, I think we cut it to eight but then they came back down and hit a three on us." The Sun adjusted their defense, with DeWanna Bonner, standing at 6ft 4in, guarding the 6ft Clark for much of the night. "I took on the challenge, next game she'll come out firing," Bonner predicted.
Clark will have another opportunity in Game 2 on Wednesday, aiming to bring the series back to Indiana for a decisive third game on Friday. In other playoff games, Leonie Fiebich scored a career-high 21 points, Breanna Stewart added 20 points and 11 rebounds, and the New York Liberty defeated the Atlanta Dream 83-69. Napheesa Collier scored a playoff career-high 38 points as Minnesota rallied to beat Phoenix. A'ja Wilson, fresh off her record-tying third MVP award, scored 21 points and blocked five shots, leading the Las Vegas Aces to a 78-67 victory over the Seattle Storm.
