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One may argue that even though Caitlin Clark was off the court on Wednesday, it made a case that she is the Most Valuable Player in the WNBA.
That’s because in the Indiana Fever’s first game without Clark since she suffered a quad injury, the Fever suffered their worst loss of the young WNBA season.
The Washington Mystics took down the Clark-less Fever, 83-77, on Wednesday night.
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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark talks with the referee after the second quarter against the Washington Mystics at Entertainment & Sports Arena. (Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images)
The Fever started out hot, getting out to a 10-4 lead, and even leading by five at a point during the second quarter.
But from 5:47 left in the second until 5:03 left in regulation, the Mystics outscored the Fever, 46-32. Their 11-point lead (73-62) was their largest of the night until garbage time free throws with under a minute left.
Indiana scored seven points in the final 22 seconds to avoid a double-digit loss, but the majority of the final 25 minutes were all Mystics.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) cheers from the bench in the first quarter against the Washington Mystics at Entertainment & Sports Arena. (Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images)
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The Fever’s previous two losses this season came by a combined three points – they lost by one to the Atlanta Dream and by two to the reigning champion New York Liberty. The Fever had the ball in the final seconds in both of those contests.
Their 77 points are the lowest they’ve scored all season, as well. They had previously scored 93, 90, 81, and 88.
Clark is slated to miss at least two weeks with a right quad injury. In their first four games, the Fever’s point differential was +37.
The former Iowa Hawkeye is averaging 19.0 points, 9.3 assists and 6.0 rebounds in her four games of the 2025 season. Last year, she set the single-season record for the most assists in one year, en route to winning Rookie of the Year. Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell tied with a team-high four assists on the night. The Fever as a whole had just 15 on the night – Clark had a WNBA record 19 on July 17 of last year.
DeWanna Bonner dropped 21 points off the bench, leading the Fever.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) sits on the bench before the game against the Washington Mystics at Entertainment & Sports Arena. (Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images)
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Clark netted a season-high 27 points last Tuesday against the Dream. She dropped 20-plus points in each of her first two games before settling for just 11 on Thursday and then 18 on Saturday against the Liberty.
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
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