As undeniable as Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark is a WNBA megastar, both in terms of on-court prowess and off-court focus, it’s also undeniable that Clark lacks what is often considered the mark of true greatness in any basketball player: playoff heroics.
Clark and the Fever were eliminated from the playoffs on Thursday, losing 94-83 to the Las Vegas Aces in a winner-take-all Game 3 to cap their first-round series. And Clark turned in a discouraging performance, finishing with just 18 points and four assists. She was ineffective, making only 6 of 18 field goals (including a 3 of 12 from 3) while committing six turnovers.
Clark’s play pales in comparison to four-time MVP A’ja Wilson, who had 36 points and 10 rebounds on 61.1 percent shooting.
“Obviously, it should probably hurt a little bit,” Clark said after the game when asked to reflect on the season and Fever’s release. “It’s really only my fifth game in the playoffs, so you take a little bit of the pressure, but also how fun this season was and how together our group was and we can just replicate that going forward.”
As Clark mentioned, her relative inexperience in the playoffs is somewhat surprising for a player of her caliber.
She played in only two playoff games during her rookie season, in which the Fever were swept in the first round by the Connecticut Sun. Last year, Clark missed the playoffs completely due to a groin injury and a bone bruise in his left ankle.
Clark was healthy this season and had her best year as a professional. She finished third with 22.3 points per game and was the only WNBA player to average at least 22 points and eight assists per night.
This made Clark’s playoff performance even more disappointing, as his scoring and efficiency declined, while his turnovers increased. Clark particularly struggled in Indiana’s two losses, averaging just 16.5 points with 7.0 assists and 6.0 turnovers in those games. For the entire series, Clark shot 39.6% from the field and 33.3% from deep.
“We have 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.”
She added: “They made it difficult, but we also made a lot of those shots throughout the year. At the same time, we were there despite some bad shots.”
There are legitimate reasons why Clark hasn’t had the same level of postseason 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 sophomore 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.
Many legends of the game, from OGs such as Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker to current greats such as Wilson, didn’t race from the start winning championships early in their careers.
But Thursday was probably the biggest game of Clark’s professional career thus far. Her play and her team’s loss proved that she is still searching for the kind of accomplishments that will ultimately define her career.
“I was able to come here and have the best season I’ve had and play at a really high level and improve in all areas while feeling like I have so many areas to improve on,” 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 come back to that.”
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