The Indiana Fever announced Monday that superstar Point Guard Catlin Clark will be out for at least two weeks with a left quad strain. It will be uncharted water for Clark. In her four years at Iowa and her one year with the Fever, she had never missed a game.
Clark was limited in the preseason with what she described as tightness in her left quad. However, the team did not explicitly say in the announcement whether this injury was an aggravation of that previous issue.
What Games Will Catlin Clark Miss?
Clark could miss up to four games in the two weeks she is injured. The Fever’s current two-week timeline rules her out of four games, minimum. At the Washington Mystics, at home against the Connecticut Sun and Mystics, and on the road at the Chicago Sky. Clark’s reexamination date is set for June 9 — but that’s when she’ll be examined again, not necessarily when she can return.
Indiana plays in Atlanta on June 10 and then has a four-day break before its next game hosting the New York Liberty. Recovery from a quad strain could range from a few weeks to several months. At this point, the length of the star’s absence is hard to forecast. It will be up to the Fever as a team to help with covering her production on the court.
Final Thoughts
At 2-2, Indiana’s two losses are by a combined three points. Seven of the Fever’s next eight games are against teams they likely should be favored against even without Clark, but their margin for error is much lower now. The other game in that stretch is against New York on June 14, and Clark might be back by then. If there were a so-called “good” time in the season for this to happen, it’s now.
Not because the Fever can take any upcoming opponents for granted, but because it allows the team to see how it can play without one of the league’s best players — and who will step up. What the Fever players learn about themselves in the next couple of weeks could prove valuable down the line. Coach Stephanie White has talked about the Fever needing to improve when Clark doesn’t have the ball in her hands, and now Indiana will have to do that while Clark is sidelined. It is not going to be easy, but they have no choice.
