The last time Caitlin Clark missed a game was back in November 2017. Yes, she was just a sophomore at Dowling Catholic High School when she sprained her ankle. But then came her rookie season in the WNBA, and the physicality became dominant. In the late August road win over the Atlanta Dreams last season, Caitlin was crossing teammate Aliyah Boston to pick her defensive position when she went down holding her ankle tightly with about 3 minutes remaining in the first quarter. The then HC Christie Sides didn’t lie calling it a “scary” moment. But next? Clark picked herself up, taped up her ankle all by herself, entered the game, and ended the night with 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. Yep, she didn’t miss the game. Even if she looked, “really soft,” as she judged herself because, “You’re not a real basketball player if you haven’t sprained your ankles a bunch.” However, times have changed. And No. 22 is injured. For real.

As the Indiana Fever stepped into Baltimore’s CFG Bank Arena, the alternate venue for the Washington Mystics for two Indiana Fever games, Caitlin was with them. But when the buzzer blew, she didn’t join on the floor. The reigning league ROTY will stay on the sidelines for at least two weeks, missing four games, with a new left quad strain injury. But who says wearing uniform matters? In fact, for Caitlin, even the post didn’t matter. The Des Moines native is following the orders given by HC Stephanie White and she takes the role seriously.

During Indiana’s second practice without Clark, White didn’t just let the point guard sit but gave her an assignment: “Hear us talking about (the game) from the coach’s perspective.” Another growth opportunity? As LeBron James would put it, “Yessir!” But of course, Clark’s not someone to just sit on the sidelines and let her team get swatted by the Mystics. She added her own little zinger to the sideline viewing experience and well, it was trouble for the officiating crew.

As always, she flipped into coach mode as USA Today’s Meghan L. Hall also reminded her followers tweeting, “The Fever-Mystics broadcast just mentioned that Caitlin Clark, who isn’t playing tonight, spoke to the ref to ask them to review a play. 100% tracks.”

In the second quarter, with 7:23 on the clock, Kelsey Mitchell picked the ball from Boston and rolled into the paint for a quick layup. However, Washington’s Stefanie Dolson, while guarding the No. 0, hit her nose, drawing a foul. As Mitchell made her very first free throw, the announcer of the day Meghan McPeak, “Caitlin Clark, although she’s not available, she still has her teammate’s back. She got up, walked over to the official and asked them to look at that because Mitchell looked like she was bleeding from the face and kind of like lobbied for it.” And that wasn’t the only time Clark pulled up the sleeves of her white sweatshirt to get down on business.

At 8:51 in the second quarter a few possessions before the Mitchell foul, Sophie Cunningham picked up an offensive foul. While dribbling to around the arc, she held Mystics’ Jade Melbourne with her right hand, getting a whistle from the referee at the C position. Although the call was correct, you could see Clark get up and almost reach the referee table before returning to sit back down. 

But we can see how Clark would have reacted in front of the officials, asking to review the play because we did see it by the end of the game with 48.4 seconds remaining on the clock as DeWanna Bonner went in for a defensive rebound after Washington’s Brittney Sykes missed her second free throw. Then, she was seen pointing things out, asking the referee about something. However, turned out that the whistle was simply for a full time out that White had called.

Throughout the game, her energy was infectious from the courtside. She kept hyping the team, walking the sideline and even patted the chair for Sydney Colson to sit down, giving coach vibe. Even at halftime, with the Mystics holding a narrow lead, Clark’s frustration was hard to miss as Mystics kept getting ahead of the visitors.

As she made her way to the locker room, cameras caught the Fever rookie exchanging a few heated words with the officials. The clip showed Clark clearly unhappy with how things were being called and she didn’t hold back in letting the refs know exactly how she felt. We already know that earlier Coach White said, “It’s a great opportunity for Caitlin to watch the game from the sidelines. To grow and almost like a coaching kind of mindset, and see some different things that we might be talking about on film, addressing in practice, to see it develop in live action,” she added. Interestingly, just as much as Clark ran with the idea, Steph was serious too. The HC made the point guard sit with the coaches to “hear those talks and gain understanding” as the broadcasters announced.

But unfortunately, CC’s absence was deeply felt, as the Fever couldn’t close it out and ended up falling short.

Fever fall short without Caitlin Clark in tough battle against Mystics

The Washington Mystics came into Wednesday night’s game desperate to turn things around after a three-game skid. They picked the perfect moment to catch the Indiana Fever slightly vulnerable – without their superstar Caitlin Clark on the court.

The Fever had to reshuffle their offensive game plan. That meant leaning more on Aliyah Boston and letting veterans like Sydney Colson and Sophie Cunningham take charge at the point. For a minute there, it looked like they were doing just fine. In the opening quarter, Indiana looked sharp. Natasha Howard led the charge with eight points, and the team was shooting an impressive 50% from both the field and beyond the arc. The Fever even ended the quarter with a four-point lead. So for a moment, it was looking like, “No Caitlin Clark, no problem.” But that momentum didn’t last long.

The Mystics came alive in the second quarter, outscoring the Fever 25-17 and flipping the script by halftime. The second half didn’t get much better for Indiana either. Washington pushed the lead to seven by the end of the third, limiting the Fever to just 13 points and five field goals in that quarter. It was clear the offense was starting to sputter.

Still, the Fever opened the fourth quarter with some energy and cut the lead back down to four. But just as quickly, Kiki Iriafen, who has been on fire, answered with a string of layups that crushed any hopes of a comeback. From there, it was pretty much a wrap. The Fever were held to just two field goals the rest of the way – one being a buzzer-beater from DeWanna Bonner. 

The Mystics held on for an 83-77 win, securing their third victory of the season. Bonner led Indiana with 21 points off the bench and hit a historic milestone along the way. She became the first player in WNBA history to reach 7,500 points, 3,000 rebounds, and 1,000 assists. Mitchell added 14 points, and Howard finished with 11 points and six rebounds. Boston too added double digits with 10 points and  rebounds. 

But the Fever struggled from deep, going just 5-of-21 from three. Colson, who stepped into Clark’s spot, finished with only four points and three assists. On the Mystics’ side, Brittney Sykes led the way with 21 points and nine rebounds. Iriafen had herself a night, finishing with 16 points and eight boards. So it’s clear…Caitlin Clark’s absence was felt. The Fever fell to 2-3 after this one, following their narrow loss to the defending champs. And while her injury isn’t expected to be long-term, this game showed just how much of a difference Clark makes when she’s on the floor.

Up next, Indiana gets a shot at redemption as they return home to face a newly-formed 0-5 Connecticut Sun on Friday. With Clark still out (for at least next 3 games), we’ll see if the Fever can bounce back and get the job done without her.