After another early exit, Caitlin Clarks career is still lacking playoff success
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 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.
Clark was inefficient, hitting only 6 of 18 field goals (including a bricky 3 of 12 from three) 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 ...