Caitlin Clark Struggles In Playoff Debut As Indiana Fever Are Blown Out

Caitlin Clark earned WNBA Rookie of the Year honors mere hours before the Indiana Fever were set to take on the Connecticut Sun in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Sunday.

Clark is coming off an historic regular season in which the generational talent broke multiple records. She also led a previously struggling Fever organization to a surprising playoff appearance after they posted a 13-27 record last season when Clark was balling out for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Would earning this honor lead to inspired play for Clark against the heavily favored Sun in Connecticut on Sunday?

Almost immediately, this was proven not to be the case. Clark struggled in nearly every aspect of the game as Indiana was blown out by the score of 93-69.

The guard scored a mere 11 points on 4-of-17 shooting from the field. That included hitting on just 2-of-13 from three-point range. While Clark did add eight assists and three steals, these struggles shooting played a huge role in the Fever getting blown out.

Caitlin Clark Struggles In WNBA Playoff Debut

It can’t be considered too much of a surprise that Clark looked to be in over her head in this one. Connecticut finished the regular season with a 28-12 record. Its defense ranked first in the WNBA in points against at 73.6 points per game. Opponents hit on just 31 percent of their three-point shots against this squad.

It was always going to be difficult for Clark against this team. Given the Sun’s status as a heavy favorite heading into the series, and that’s magnified further.

For her part, Clark seemingly blamed officiating for playing a role in the Fever’s ugly Game 1 loss.

“We were right there, I felt like we just played a crappy game,” Clark told reporters. “The flow was really bad, I don’t know if that was the reffing, it was probably partly us because we struggled to get stops at time(s), but also the clock getting messed up, it was just one thing after the next.”

I am not sure how much officiating played a role in what ended up being a 24-point loss. If we were talking about a closer game, this would be a different story.

As Clark struggled, other Indiana stars did their thing. Kelsey Mitchell scored 21 points on 9-of-20 shooting. However, she also hit on just 2-of-10 from three-point range. Aliyah Boston contributed 17 points and 11 rebounds.

It did not matter. The Fever need Clark to play better if they are going to extend their season with Game 2 in the best-of-three slated for Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut on Wednesday.

For now, this has to be considered a learning experience for Clark. She just did not have it in her postseason debut on Sunday.

One thing is for sure. Clark is not lacking confidence with Indiana on the brink of elimination.

“We can win,” Clark told reporters. “It’s not anything about the building, it’s not about the gym, it’s not about the hoops. I have all the confidence in the world in this team, and everybody in our locker room does and I know we’ll be a lot better Wednesday.”

This confidence could very well lead to a rebound performance as Indiana looks to force a Game 3 at home Friday night.

The larger problem here is fixing the shooting issues we saw from Clark on Sunday. She can play well in other aspects of the game. But Indiana certainly needs her to score more and be efficient. That wasn’t the case on Sunday. The numbers and tape tell us this story.