Caitlin Clark's Pregame Status For Liberty Game Revealed
Time will tell if the Indiana Fever has to put Caitlin Clark in quarantine for their latest tilt against the New York Liberty.
Clark is listed as questionable with a right groin on the Fever injury report for Wednesday's Barclays Center brouhaha against the Liberty (7:30 p.m. ET, Fox5/CBSSN), which will be the final game for each side before the WNBA All-Star break.
Indiana (12-10) faces the Liberty in the latter half of a back-to-back, having defeated the Connecticut Sun at TD Garden in Boston on Tuesday. It was a frustrating game for Clark, who had several animated discussions with officials over disagreeable calls while dealing with her ailment. She put up 14 points on 4-of-14 from the field with eight rebounds and seven assists, though the Fever were a game-best plus-21 when she was on the floor.
It's been an injury-riddled season for Clark, who has dealt with lower body issues throughout this campaign. She has, however, saved her best showings for the matchups against the Liberty: New York escaped from Indianapolis with a narrow victory on May 24 despite an 18-point, 10-assist double-double from Clark, who also lost 10 turnovers in the 90-88 defeat.
That was the last game Clark played before she missed nearly a month with a quad ailment. She returned, ironically enough, against the Liberty on June 14, and put up her best performance of the season, scoring 32 points in a 102-88 triumph, one that ended New York's perfect start to the season at nine games.
Clark and the Fever will now play their first of consecutive games in Brooklyn, as Indiana will also be the first metropolitan opponent after the break on July 22.
In between showdowns, Clark will be one of the captains of the WNBA All-Star Game set to be held in Indianapolis dwelling, collaborating with Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu and head coach Sandy Brondello in Saturday's main event. Ionescu and Clark are also set to do battle in the preceding night's 3-Point Contest, headlining the five-woman group alongside defending champion Allisha Gray of Atlanta.
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.