In the Indiana Fever’s first game since the injury news came out about Caitlin Clark missing at least two weeks due to a quad injury, the team was unable to pull off a win. They ended up losing to the Washington Mystics by a final score of 83-77.
While the loss was disappointing and dropped the Fever to a 2-3 record, they were not a pushover team. Indiana put up a fight without its franchise face on the court.
Clark will miss quite a bit more time, but the hope is that the Fever can string a few wins together during that time to stay in contention. When Clark returns, Indiana will have a shot to get back on track and finish out the season strong.
Following the Fever’s loss to the Mystics, Washington head coach Sydney Johnson spoke out about his opponent. He revealed an honest take about Indiana without Clark.
Read more: Fever Coach Reacts to Brutal Caitlin Clark Injury
“They’re good, right? So I’ve said it before the game, Caitlin’s really good. But Kelsey and AB, Hull, Sophie, Sydney, Howard, I mean, you know, this is a team that a lot of people feel threatened for the league title, and for good reason,” he said.
“So very, very talented team, and I think without Caitlin, you know, she has a lot of usage there, but they still play very fast. They play inside, they cut hard, and they dig in defensively. So we feel like we had to play well in order to beat them, and thankfully we did.”
That is resounding praise for the Fever. They gave everything they had, but came up just six points short.
In Clark’s absence, Kelsey Mitchell will be asked to become the team’s leading scorer. She put up a 14-point performance, although she shot just 4-for-16 from the floor. DeWanna Bonner came off the bench to lead Indiana in scoring with 21 points on 5-for-10 shooting and made all nine of her free throw attempts.
Read more: Angel Reese Makes Major WNBA History During Sky-Mercury Matchup
Indiana has a lot of work to do to pick up some wins without Clark. The Fever will have another chance to come through with a victory on Friday night when they play host to the Connecticut Sun at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Hopefully, the team will see multiple players step up in Clark’s absence. The next two weeks are critical for Indiana to be able to stay afloat without its superstar available.
Make sure to follow Newsweek Sports for all WNBA news and updates.
The post Mystics HC Sends Warning About Fever Without Caitlin Clark appeared first on Newsweek.
