All eyes were on Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark during her WNBA playoff debut on Sunday. The Fever went head-to-head against the Connecticut Sun on the road and ultimately fell 93-69. Clark didn’t necessarily have the offensive showing that many fans and analysts expected. She finished the game with 11 points, eight assists and four rebounds. The rookie struggled mightily in terms of efficiency, shooting 23.5% from the field and 15.4% from three. There was speculation that Clark was struggling because of her growing black eye, which she suffered from being poked in the eye in the first half, but Clark shut down that assumption after the game. She spoke with the media about her eye in the postgame press conference, mentioning that she doesn’t think it affected her game.
Clark entered the WNBA playoffs as one of the most electric scorers in the WNBA. During her rookie season, she posted 19.2 points, 8.4 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game. The first-year star led all rookies in scoring and the WNBA in average assists in the regular season. At just 22 years old, Clark proved to be one of the most versatile players in the WNBA, and while she was able to showcase her playmaking in the playoffs, her scoring was certainly an issue for Indiana in Game 1 of the playoffs.
The Fever will head back to the drawing board and prepare for Game 2 of the first round, which will be played on Wednesday in Connecticut. A couple of other Indiana stars struggled on the offensive end in Game 1, so Clark wasn’t alone. Lexie Hull scored just five points, shooting 1-of-4 from the field and 0-of-2 from three. Kelsey Mitchell was able to score 21 points, but the WNBA veteran shot 2-of-10 from three.
