Caitlin Clark not expected to play when Indiana Fever resume season Tuesday at New York

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark is not expected to be available on Tuesday night when Indiana resumes its season at the defending champion New York Liberty, Fever coach Stephanie White said.

Clark missed Indiana’s final game before the All-Star break with an injured right groin and pulled out of Friday night’s 3-point contest as well as Saturday’s All-Star Game.

Clark told reporters on Saturday night that she had been getting treatment during the festivities, which also took place in Indianapolis.

She was injured in the final minute of Tuesday’s victory at Connecticut.

While she is improving, White said, the Fever intend to be cautious with Clark, who missed 10 games during the first half of the season with three different muscle injuries.

“She’s going to see some doctors and get more tests early in the week,” White said. “I don’t expect her to be available on Tuesday, so we’re just going to take it one day at a time and let her get evaluations early this week and then, once we’ve done that, hopefully we’ll have more of a clear vision of what it looks like.”

Clark never missed a game because of injury during her college career at Iowa or last season when she was selected the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year.

The two-time All-Star is averaging 16.5 points, 8.8 assists and 5.0 rebounds this season for a team that was expected to contend for a league championship. But Clark’s injuries and other obstacles have kept the Fever hovering near the middle of the standings with a 12-11 mark.

“These soft tissue injuries, sometimes nag until you can actually have time to really allow to heal in the offseason,” White said.

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