She's back: Fever say Caitlin Clark will be ready to play on Saturday
Article content
INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark ended practice Friday by making a halfcourt shot and winning a little bit of lunch money in the process.
Article content
And with that, the Indiana Fever star is ready to play again.
Article content
Article content
Clark — barring any unforeseen setbacks — is expected to be in the lineup when the Fever play host to the reigning WNBA champion New York Liberty on Saturday afternoon. She missed the last five Indiana games with a quadriceps injury.
Article content
'As long as we don't have any regressions, she's going to be ready to roll,' Fever coach Stephanie White said.
Article content
Clark returned to practice this week, and her comeback game just happens to be a nationally televised one against the Liberty _ the defending champs and, at 9-0, the last unbeaten team left in the league this season. New York is winning its games by an average of 19 points.
Article content
'I'm really excited,' Clark said. 'I think it's definitely been a process. I think the hardest part is when you like begin to feel really good and then it's just a process of working yourself back into actually getting up and down and getting out there with my teammates.'
Article content
The halfcourt shot at the end of practice was the kicker of a friendly competition, and Clark (who says she rarely wins the halfcourt contests) did wave a few dollars that she won around afterward — in case anyone needed a reminder of her shooting range.
Article content
The Fever (4-5) went 2-3 in Clark's absence. She was averaging 19 points, 9.3 assists, six rebounds and 1.3 steals per game when she got hurt. There's still a long way to go this season, but no player in WNBA history has ever finished a season averaging that many points, assists, rebounds and steals per game.
Article content
Article content
Clark freely acknowledges that she's not a patient person, but she understood the process and why it was important to not skip any steps in her recovery. Among the treatments: 'anything under the sun,' she said, including everything from massage to weights to hyperbaric therapy.
Article content
'It was certainly a learning opportunity, and I think it's going to benefit me a lot throughout my career, just falling back and understanding certain moments like this,' Clark said. 'But I'm super, super excited. I'm antsy to get out there and probably shake off a little bit of rust and then play.'
Article content
Clark's return is the latest bit of big basketball news in Indianapolis, along with the Indiana Pacers going into Friday's Game 4 of the NBA Finals leading the Oklahoma City Thunder 2-1. Clark and many other Fever players were at Game 3 on Wednesday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the same court where they'll be taking on the Liberty on Saturday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
11 hours ago
- CBC
Tennis star, 93, brightens up the court
Joyce Cutts is a former national doubles champion in tennis. At 93, she shows no signs of slowing down as she hits the tennis courts three times a week.
CTV News
12 hours ago
- CTV News
Marchand, Bennett push Panthers past Oilers to take 3-2 lead in Stanley Cup final
Connor McDavid and Corey Perry scored in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers as Edmonton lost 5-2. EDMONTON — The Oilers are in a familiar spot — facing elimination in the Stanley Cup final. Brad Marchand scored twice to give him a series-leading six goals and Sam Bennett buried his NHL playoff-leading 15th as the Florida Panthers defeated Edmonton 5-2 to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven matchup Saturday. Sam Reinhart and Eetu Luostarinen, into the empty net, had the other goals for the defending champs. Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves. Luostarinen added an assist for a two-point night. Bennett and Marchand are the first players since 1981 with at least five goals each in the same final, and the first teammates to do so since 1973. Marchand is also the first player to score six goals in a final since 1988. Connor McDavid and Corey Perry replied for the Oilers, who will look to stave off elimination when Game 6 goes Tuesday in Sunrise, Fla. Calvin Pickard stopped 14 shots. Edmonton trailed Florida 3-0 in last year's final only to battle back with three straight victories to force a winner-take-all finale the club lost 2-1. McDavid had a couple of early chances inside an electric Rogers Place — the raucous, well-lubricated weekend crowd hit 113.4 decibels when the home side hit the ice ahead of puck drop — before the Panthers pounced. Marchand was quickest off a faceoff at centre and then blew past Edmonton defenceman Mattias Ekholm before firing his ninth of the playoffs off the post and in at 9:12. The 37-year-old has now has 12 goals in his four appearances in the final to become the seventh player in the post-expansion era to reach that number. He's also the second player since 1967-68 to have at least five goals in multiple finals after scoring that many in 2011 with the Boston Bruins to join Mario Lemieux (1991 and 1992). The Oilers went to the power play later in the period, but a disjointed and timid sequence resulted in little zone time and no shots on Bobrovsky. Florida doubled its lead moments later when Bennett fired past Pickard, who got the start ahead of Stuart Skinner following his 23-save performance off the bench in Edmonton's dramatic 5-4 overtime victory in Game 4, after Matthew Tkachuk's initial shot was blocked at 18:06. Bennett is the fourth active player to have at least 15 goals in a single playoff, joining Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby and injured Oilers forward Zach Hyman. Edmonton went back to the man advantage in the second period and got some good looks. Bobrovsky denied both Perry and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins before McDavid hit the post. Marchand made it 3-0 at 5:12 of the third when he undressed Edmonton blueliner Jack Walman and slid home his 10th past Pickard. McDavid gave the home side some life at 7:24 with a shake-and-back move on Bobrovsky for his seventh — and first of the series — but Reinhart put things to bed 46 seconds later when he snapped home his seventh. Perry scored a consolation goal with 3:13 left in regulation and Pickard on the bench for an extra attacker in an Edmonton push that came far too late before Luostarinen iced it into the empty net. PICKARD REFLECTS The Oilers goaltender got into just 30 NHL games between 2018 and last season — a stretch that included lots of time in the minors and a brief stint in Austria — before getting a shot in the Alberta capital. 'It's been a great journey, I've been a lot of good places,' Pickard said. 'Grateful that I had the chance to come to Edmonton.' TAKING STOCK Marchand was asked following Saturday's morning skate where this final ranks after winning in 2011 with the Bruins before falling just short in 2013 and 2019. 'This has been a pretty incredible one,' he said. 'This is one of the tightest series anyone will ever see. Just the talent level and how close these two teams are, how back and forth the games have been. It's been very exciting, a little nerve-racking at times. 'It makes you realize why you love the game so much. But also why this trophy is the hardest to win.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 14, 2025. Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
CTV News
14 hours ago
- CTV News
Messi gets Club World Cup under way in Miami
Inter Miami's Lionel Messi, right, and Al Ahly's Mohamed El Shenawy shake hands prior to the Club World Cup group A soccer match between Al Ahly and Inter Miami in Miami, Fla., Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) FIFA's new 32-team Club World Cup kicked off on Saturday with Lionel Messi leading Inter Miami against Egypt's Al Ahly at an almost full Hard Rock Stadium. Fears of a low crowd for the opening game eased as the seats in the 64,000 venue began to fill up with the stadium almost full at kick-off time. Thousands of fans of Al Ahly, record 12 times African Champions League winner and 45-times Egyptian league titles, arrived at Hard Rock Stadium well ahead of kick off. The stadium, home to the NFL's Miami Dolphins, witnessed chaotic scenes last year at the final of the Copa America between Argentina and Colombia where fans broke into the ground after long delays to enter. But there was a filter system set up for ticket and security checks well away from the stadium perimeter and there were no signs of any problems. This is the first edition of the new expanded format for the tournament which features clubs from every continent and concludes with the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 13.
