Caitlin Clark put up 24 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists in Indiana Fever‘s 87-78 road win against the Los Angeles Sparks. She was on the court for 31 minutes. Clark has been pushing past the 30-minute mark in games since the start of this season. Even while playing for Team USA, she did not put that much stress on her body. But she was able to handle it in Los Angeles.
“I feel good,” she said postgame. “I took a couple of hard fouls there then. But I feel good overall. I felt fast tonight.”
That is very positive news to hear. Last season, she was able to play only 13 games because of recurring injuries and physical stress. Even when she did play, she was often not allowed to stay on the floor for extended minutes.
“I haven’t played 30-plus minutes in a really long time,” she added. “Like, even last year, at least half the games, I was probably on some sort of minutes restriction, not crossing over into 30.”
“Really happy with the way my body responded after the first game. Felt really good going into tonight.”
Caitlin Clark is Still Not Okay Mentally After her Injury
GettyCaitlin Clark has been dealing with a mental burden after the injury.
The concerning point is that Clark is struggling with the mental aspect of her injury. Over the past year, she revealed that time away from the court has been one of her toughest mental battles. She had to lean on her mom to build the fortitude and strength needed to overcome it.
“It’s still something I’m really battling and kind of almost struggling with,” she expressed. “It’s going to take me a little bit to really get over this mental hurdle of trusting my body.”
Clark said her body feels good, and she is gradually working through the mental side of things to return to her peak form.
Caitlin Clark, Stephanie White on Officiating at the Sparks Game
As Clark mentioned, the game against Los Angeles was quite physical. Both head coach Stephanie White and Clark were unhappy with the officiating. The 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year received her first technical foul of the season on Wednesday after engaging in a verbal exchange with referee Jason Albanza.
With 20 seconds remaining in the first half, Clark was called for an offensive foul that she felt was undeserved. She argued the call with Albanza, which resulted in the technical foul.
GettyCaitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever reacts to a call during a game.
“I was just going to say I deserved my technical,” she told the media before White stepped in to answer the question directed at her about the officiating on Wednesday.
This is not the only instance of her confronting the officials. She has drawn fines and technicals multiple times in the past two years due to her altercations with game referees.
White was fined last season for heated comments about officiating and she is well aware of Clark’s habits. She felt she had to step in to answer the question for he team’s star.
“The reality is a lot of us spend a lot of time in the offseason on various committees trying to remedy this officiating thing,” White said. “Freedom of movement needs to be a thing, and it was not tonight. This felt a lot like last year to me.”
Indiana will travel back home for its game against the Washington Mystics on Friday.
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Fever’s Caitlin Clark Reveals Good and Bad News After Injury appeared first on HEAVY.