Caitlin Clark's groin strain sidelines her for Fever's 3rd game in row, Commissioner's Cup vs. Lynx

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark was ruled out of the WNBA Commissioner's Cup final on Tuesday with a strained groin, her third straight absence for the Indiana Fever.

The Fever announced on their pregame injury report that Clark would sit against the Minnesota Lynx in the championship game of the league's in-season tournament. The game does not count toward the regular-season standings.

“She’s making progress,” Fever coach Stephanie White said. “Making progress and feeling good are two different things. We want to make sure that she feels good. We want to make sure that she’s confident. We want to make sure that we’re not putting her in a position to have any setbacks.”

Clark, the first overall pick in the 2024 draft and one of the two captains selected for the WNBA All-Star Game later this month, never missed a game in college at Iowa or with the Fever as a rookie. A strained quadriceps earlier this season kept her out for five games.

The game against the league-leading Lynx was another high-profile matchup Clark's absence put a bit of a damper on. She missed Indiana's game on Friday at Dallas that would have pitted her against Wings rookie Paige Bueckers and featured the top picks of the last two drafts.

“Caitlin has a lot of gravity — she’s an amazing player,” said Minnesota's Napheesa Collier, the other captain selected for this year's All-Star Game. “They have a lot of really good players, so not by any means is it going to be an easy game. It’s still going to be a really hard fight.”

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball