Caitlin Clark off in return to Fever; Indiana tinkering with off-ball role

Fever All-Star Caitlin Clark shared point guard duties and failed to find her range Wednesday in her first game with Indiana since June 24.

Clark was 4 of 12 from the field with four turnovers in Indiana's loss to Golden State, which bumped the Fever to 9-10 with four games to go before the All-Star break.

"It felt good to be out there," Clark said after logging a season-low 25 minutes. "The offense -- for us it starts with defense. We struggled. ... Overall, they just played with more energy and effort. Nobody played well today.

"I felt pretty good. Just trying to get my legs under me and get my wind back."

Clark had 10 points on Wednesday, largely playing without the ball according to the plan of Indiana coach Stephanie White. She started Sydney Colson, who took over at point guard while Clark recovered from her second leg injury of the season. She also missed three weeks with a strained quad.

"I like the ability to have two primary (ball handlers) on the floor," White said. "Being able to give the opponent different looks. Quite frankly, for (Caitlin), especially not having to have her play under duress 94 feet, we'll continue to work on that."

White is hoping to spare Clark's legs and maximize her 20-plus minutes per game until she regains her health.

Whether Clark can get her legs back without another extended absence is the concern.

She had a season-low six points with eight turnovers at Seattle when she awkwardly needed to kick off a second extended hiatus from the lineup this season. Counting Wednesday, Clark's past four games paint a grim picture. The Fever are 1-3 in those games and Clark is 17 of 59 from the field with 26 turnovers.

"We're going to fix it," Clark said.

--Field Level Media