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 hard and I've responded well to those, you just don't know when you get into a game environment."
White told media earlier Wednesday that Clark would rest Thursday at Phoenix. Center Aliyah Boston (leg), who sat out against the Sparks, will play against the Mercury, White said.
White said these were precautionary moves so the two All-Stars, who have been dealing with nagging injuries, don't have to play on consecutive nights. Boston has appeared in 19 of the Fever's 21 games, and Clark has played in 18. Wednesday, the Fever missed Boston, who is averaging 17.1 points and 8.6 rebounds.
Guard Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 29 points, but she said she was unhappy with the Fever's defense, which allowed the Sparks to shoot 51% and top 100 points. Indiana's offense also looked disjointed.
"I think anything you want to do on the offensive end, you can't do when you don't defend the ball," Mitchell said. "Defensively, it kind of was just ugly."
The Fever hope for a better showing Thursday night in their final meeting of the season against the Mercury. Their previous meeting on June 24 in Indianapolis was contentious, with Clark leaving early because of back issues and Phoenix forward Alyssa Thomas being penalized the following day by the league, which gave her for a flagrant foul 2 for pressing her fist on Clark's neck. Thomas was suspended for one game.
White was asked whether that incident had anything to do with the Fever's decision to rest Clark against the Mercury rather than against the Sparks.
"No, it was a conversation with the medical staff, and sort of where we were in terms of when the injuries flared up and working our way back," White said.
Playing Wednesday instead of Thursday also gives Clark more recovery time before the last of the Fever's four-game road trip Sunday at Las Vegas. The Fever beat the Aces 84-68 without Clark on July 5.
Clark said she hopes she will be able to play more Sunday but knows that will be up to the Fever's medical staff.
"I feel right now really positive about hopefully bumping up to maybe 25 [minutes] vs. Vegas," she said. "But I don't make these decisions. I'm such a competitor, I think I can play more, but that can sometimes get you in trouble."