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          Fever's Caitlin Clark sitting out against Fire with back issue

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          Caitlin Clark flirts with triple-double in Fever's win vs. Storm (1:12)

          Caitlin Clark goes for 21 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for the Indiana Fever against the Seattle Storm. (1:12)

          • Alexa PhilippouMay 21, 2026, 03:16 AM
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            • Covers women's college basketball and the WNBA
            • Previously covered UConn and the WNBA Connecticut Sun for the Hartford Courant
            • Stanford graduate and Baltimore native with further experience at the Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and Cincinnati Enquirer
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          Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark was a late scratch ahead of Wednesday night's matchup against the Portland Fire because of a back concern.

          Fever coach Stephanie White said before the game that Clark woke up with stiffness and soreness in her back. While she doesn't expect it to be an ongoing issue for Clark, White said "it's not the time to take a chance. We just really want to be cautious."

          Clark did not participate in practice on Tuesday, instead getting treatment and going through workouts after practice.

          White said Clark was "absolutely not" sitting out due to load management.

          "She's healthy," White said. "We're not managing anything. This is just a back issue that we want to make sure we give the time to be ready."

          The 2024 No. 1 draft pick and Rookie of the Year, Clark is coming off an injury-riddled season in which she appeared in only 13 games and missed the entire second half of the season.

          During Indiana's season-opening loss to the Dallas Wings, Clark went into the tunnel twice to get her back worked on and "adjusted" before reentering the game. She said afterward that her back "gets out of line pretty quickly" and that her trips off the floor were to "get my back put back in place a little bit."

          "That moment where my back tightened up, I think I almost got confidence from that because I came back in and I played eight more minutes, so I felt great," Clark said last week. "It's something I can take confidence from. But it's going to take me a little bit to really get over the mental hurdle of trusting my body."

          Asked Wednesday whether the Fever need to do anything additional moving forward to manage Clark's back, White said, "Not that I'm aware of. I mean, I think the biggest thing is just how she feels."

          Clark, a two-time All-Star and 2024 All-WNBA first-team selection, is averaging 24.3 points, 9.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game through the first four games of 2025. She has two straight 20-point, 10-assist performances, including 21 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds in only 24 minutes this past Sunday in a win over the Seattle Storm.