Fever's Clark not in flow with minutes cap, nets 9 in loss to Sparks - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark was not happy with the outcome in Wednesday night's 106-92 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks but said after her first game in two weeks that her body «feels great.»

Clark missed two games because of back issues that flared up June 24 during the Fever's 111-109 loss to Phoenix. She played 16 minutes Wednesday, finishing with nine points on 4-of-12 shooting with four rebounds, three assists and four turnovers.

«It's going to take some time to build endurance,» Fever coach Stephanie White said of Clark. «She hadn't really been able to practice all that much, either. They pressure at 94 feet, so you've got to make sure you're able to withstand that. It's never easy when you're reintegrating after an injury. She's going to continue to be better.»

Clark played in shifts of about three minutes, then would often leave the bench to keep her back loose.

«It's really, really hard to get into a flow,» Clark said. «For the most part, I got good looks. Some of them went, some of them didn't.

»I didn't get to have a feel for the game as I usually do. But overall, my body feels great. So that's a positive you take from today. It stinks we didn't play very well as a team, but I feel really good. So we'll see how I feel tomorrow, too. But can definitely take a win there."

Clark entered the game averaging 21.2 points and 8.2 assists and was named an All-Star starter last week. She has said in the past that she doesn't like minutes restrictions, an opinion she still holds. But the Fever medical staff had the final say.

«When you haven't played in two, two and a half weeks, a game environment is just so much different than anything we can replicate,» Clark said. «Even though my workouts have been