By Ross Kelly

For the first time in her professional or collegiate career, Caitlin Clark was forced to watch a game from the sidelines due to a quad injury. She sat out the Indiana Fever–Washington Mystics matchup on Wednesday, and based on how much of her team’s offense runs through its star player, it was a monumental adjustment for the team. The results indicated as much, with Indiana falling, 83–77, to a Washington team that was on a three-game losing streak.

The Fever’s point total of 77 was their lowest of the season, having averaged 88 points through their first four games.

After the loss, Clark’s teammates made it clear that her absence was felt. Guard Sophie Cunningham, in her first year with the squad after six seasons in Phoenix, described what it was like without Clark on the court.

“With her or without her, it’s a new system and a lot of new players. At some point, we have to turn the page. We’ve got to be able to slow down, to click, to see the mismatches. So, I think this was a kind of gut punch for us,” Cunningham said.

“We’re going to come back tomorrow at practice with more focus, more energy. We know where we want to be at the end of the season, but we’re not just going to get there.”

Just about all of the offensive statistics were season-lows for Indiana, including its field goal percentage (39.7), three-pointers made (five), three-point percentage (23.8), and assists (15). The Fever also had more turnovers (16) than assists for the first time this season, and they only had one such outing through 42 regular plus postseason games last season.

Through five games of the 2025 WNBA season, Indiana is averaging 107.5 points per 100 possessions with Clark on the floor versus 87.7 points per 100 possessions without her.

Cunningham wasn’t the only Fever player who used the punch analogy to describe Wednesday’s setback. Two-time All-Star Kelsey Mitchell, who has spent her entire eight-year WNBA career with the Fever, also had a colorful assessment after the game.

“I think getting punched in the mouth early is humbling, because it shows where we need to be,” she said.

After a record-breaking rookie season in which Clark was named WNBA Rookie of the Year and also made First-Team All-WNBA, replacing her in the lineup is simply not possible for the Fever. Her nominal replacement for Wednesday’s game was offseason addition Sydney Colson. Before Wednesday, 35-year-old Colson, in her 11th WNBA season, had started only 10 games. And, while no one expected her to match Clark’s production, Fever fans also likely expected a bit more from her.

Colson played 31 minutes but had just four points, three rebounds, and three assists, while committing three turnovers. This season, Clark is averaging 19 points, 9.3 assists, and six rebounds through four games. While Clark was at the game, signing pre-game autographs and sitting on the bench next to the coaches, her absence on the court was palpable.

This contest took place at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, rather than the Mystics’ home venue of CareFirst Arena in the nation’s capital. The WNBA moved the game—the first in league history to take place in Baltimore—to accommodate the larger crowd that Clark’s presence attracts. CFG has a capacity of about 12,000, making it nearly three times as big as the Mystics’ normal home, and the former had a paid attendance of 11,183 even with Clark on the sidelines.

Clark’s absence, which is expected to last roughly two weeks, will also have a huge effect on Indiana’s game next Saturday versus the Chicago Sky. That road game for the Fever was moved from the Sky’s normal venue, which holds just over 10,000 fans, to the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls. The United Center holds nearly 21,000 fans, and many Chicagoans were looking forward to the next chapter in the Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese rivalry.

However, Clark’s injury timeline indicates she will still be out for that game, which is a loss, not only for those Chicago fans but for the WNBA and its media partners as a whole. That Fever versus Sky game will be broadcast at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, making it the first-ever primetime regular-season game on broadcast TV in the 29-year history of the WNBA. CBS will broadcast another seven primetime games this season, but it’s a major blow not to have the league’s star attraction for the inaugural primetime broadcast.

Ahead of that Sky game, the Fever will hope to manage without Clark for a pair of home contests. They will host the Connecticut Sun on Friday before a rematch with the Mystics on Tuesday. Clark is expected to return to action on June 10, as the Fever visit the Atlanta Dream.