Caitlin Clark scored 21 points in 16 minutes Thursday night before leaving Indiana’s preseason game against the Dallas Wings in the third quarter after landing hard on her knee. The officials called a flagrant foul on Alanna Smith after Clark was fouled on a 3-pointer, and Clark made two of three free throws before walking off at the 7:51 mark of the third quarter.
Clark said after the game that she felt good and said she “just landed on my kneecap really hard.” She also said she thought the refs did a really good job and that the league had been focused on cleaning up that kind of contact. Stephanie White said the plan all along was for Clark to leave early in the third quarter, and that keeping her sidelined after the knee bang was an extra precaution.
Clark finished 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 11 of 13 at the line, with four assists and two rebounds. The game was Indiana’s second preseason outing, and it came 291 days after Clark last played in a home game for the Fever. The 2024 No. 1 pick was limited to 13 games, including eight home games, last year in an injury-riddled campaign, so every update on her body carries extra weight for Indiana.
The night also marked the WNBA debut of Azzi Fudd, the 2026 No. 1 pick, who scored four points on 2-of-7 shooting in 16 minutes and missed both of her 3-point attempts. Dallas won 95-80, with Paige Bueckers scoring the first points for the Wings on a wing 3-pointer. For Indiana, the more important number was not the final score but Clark leaving after a hard fall and still sounding calm enough to suggest she avoided anything worse.