LAS VEGAS — Caitlin Clark returned to the postseason a year after injuries kept her on the bench as the Las Vegas Aces eliminated the Indiana Fever again, winning 94-83 in Game 3 of their WNBA first-round series Thursday night.
Clark watched from the sideline last season when the Aces ended Indiana’s playoff run. This time, she played but could not prevent the Fever from suffering the same result.
“I’m just proud of this group,” Clark said. “We weathered a lot. There’s always so much outside noise, a microscope on how we perform every single day.”
Indiana entered the playoffs as the No. 6 seed after finishing the regular season with a 4-4 record over its final eight games. The Fever had a chance to secure home-court advantage in the first round but instead faced the No. 3-seeded Aces, who have won three of the past four WNBA championships.
Clark entered the series under intense attention as one of the league’s most prominent players. WNBA Commissioner Adam Silver called her a “political football” in July amid ongoing debate over how officials call games involving the Fever star.
Clark also took a hit to the face during the fourth quarter Thursday and left the sequence with a bloody mouth. Officials did not call a foul, and Clark appeared to check a loose tooth during her postgame news conference.
“Your guess would be as good as mine,” Clark said when asked why officials did not call a foul.
Clark scored 18 points, with 11 coming in the opening quarter. She made four of seven shots in the period, including three of six from 3-point range.
She struggled after the first quarter, scoring seven points while making two of 11 shots and missing all six of her 3-point attempts.
The Fever scored 31 points in the first quarter but failed to reach 18 points in each of the final three periods. Indiana twice cut Las Vegas’ lead to two points in the fourth quarter before the Aces pulled away.
Clark said before the game that the Fever expect to contend for a championship and that the team has enough talent to achieve that goal. After the loss, she pointed to the league’s parity and said any playoff team could win the title.
“They made it difficult, but we’ve made a lot of those shots throughout the year, too,” Clark said. “At the same time, we were right there despite some of the poor shooting.”
The loss sent Clark and the Fever into the offseason after another playoff exit against Las Vegas.