As undeniable as Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark is as a WNBA megastar, both in terms of her on-court prowess and off-court attention, it is also undeniable that Clark is missing what is often considered the hallmark of true greatness for any basketball player: playoff heroics.
Clark and the Fever were eliminated from the postseason Thursday, losing 94-83 to the Las Vegas Aces in a winner-take-all Game 3 to cap their first-round series. And Clark put up a dispiriting performance, finishing with only 18 points and four assists. She was inefficient, hitting only 6 of 18 field goals (including a bricky 3 of 12 from 3) while committing six turnovers.
Clark’s play paled in comparison to four-time MVP A’ja Wilson, who had 36 points and 10 rebounds on 61.1% shooting.
“Obviously, probably let this hurt a little bit,” Clark said after the game when asked to look back on the Fever’s season and exit. “This is really only my fifth game playing in the postseason, so you kind of take the burn a little bit, but also how much fun this season was and how together our group was and just getting to replicate that going forward.”
As Clark mentioned, her relative playoff inexperience is somewhat surprising for a player of her caliber.
She played in only two postseason games in her rookie season, in which the Fever were swept in the first round by the Connecticut Sun. Last year, Clark missed the playoffs entirely due to a groin injury and bone bruise in her left ankle.
Clark was healthy this season and had her best year as a pro. She finished third in scoring with 22.3 points per game and was the only player in the WNBA to average at least 22 points and eight assists a night.
That made Clark’s playoff performance even more disappointing, as her scoring and efficiency dipped, while her turnovers increased. Clark especially struggled in Indiana’s two losses, averaging only 16.5 points with 7.0 assists and 6.0 turnovers across those games. For the entire series, Clark shot 39.6% from the field and 33.3% from deep.
“We’ve got to give credit to the Aces,” Clark said. “I thought they played well. I thought they were ready to go. That’s what championship teams do.”
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She added: “They made it difficult, but we’ve made a lot of those shots throughout the year, too. At the same time, we were right there despite some of the poor shooting.”
There are legitimate reasons why Clark has not enjoyed the same level of playoff success as some of the game’s other established stars: Clark is still in the early stages of her career, she lost most of her second season to injury, the Fever were a struggling franchise when she was drafted, the three-game first round is a small sample size, and the competition in the W has never been better.
Several of the game’s legends, from OGs such as Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker to current greats such as Wilson, didn’t race out of the gate winning championships early in their careers.
But Thursday was likely the biggest game of Clark’s professional career so far. Her play and her team’s loss proved she is still searching for the kind of accomplishments that will ultimately come to define her career.
“I was able to come out here and put together the best season I’ve had and perform at a really high level and basically get better in every area and still feel like I have so many areas to improve,” Clark said. “So, I guess that’s the most exciting part moving forward. I love the work. I love being in the gym. So, I’ll probably be kicked out for a little while, but we’ll get back to it.”
