Caitlin Clark dazzles on sensational WNBA return as Indiana Fever take down champion New York Liberty

As Caitlin Clark prepared to return from a five-game injury absence on Saturday, she was – it turns out – needlessly cautious.

She spoke beforehand about giving herself ‘grace’ as she returned from her quad problem. After all, it was the first time she’d been sidelined since high school, and she hadn’t played in three weeks.

‘You know, maybe shake off some rust and figure some things out, and just get back into the flow of it,’ she told reporters.

That plan proved to be completely, almost laughably hypothetical as Clark got right back to her very best in front of a packed Gainbridge Fieldhouse, notching 32 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in a 102-88 win to knock off the defending champions.

If there was any sign at all of the time she’d been off the court, perhaps it was the sight of her huffing and puffing after the conclusion of the first quarter. 

Crucially, though, that fatigue came after she buried deep three-pointers on three consecutive possessions, sticking out her tongue in celebration as she dragged her team back in the game. Now that was the Clark we remembered.

Caitlin Clark made an incredible return to the Fever on Saturday as they got the win at home

She looked back to her very best after missing three weeks with a quad strain

‘They were all in transition, so I felt like I was kind of running around fast to try to get them off… that takes it out of probably anybody,’ Clark, who also appeared to be under the weather, answered a question from Daily Mail about the sequence.

‘But like I said, I felt really good out there. And now for me, it’s just how I recover, especially with the schedule that we have coming up, that’s going to be super important. We’re playing a lot of games in very short period of time, so I really have to take care of myself to make sure I don’t regress any sort of way.’

The reigning Rookie of the Year may still be getting her lungs under her, but fans were treated to the full Clark experience on Saturday.

There was her playmaking, as she threaded the needle to Kelsey Mitchell for her first assist of the game. Her brashness, as she earned herself a technical foul for jawing at the refs in the second quarter.

And especially her absurd shooting range, as she ended the afternoon with seven triples. As she came down from her quick nine-point burst in the first half, she pulled up from nearly midcourt. The shot missed, but it was hard not to feel it was a justified heat check with how well she was playing.

Fever coach Stephanie White cracked after the game: ‘Don’t we always expect that kind of game for Caitlin? You know, good, bad or ugly, I knew her adrenaline was going to be high to start. I mean, she’s been itching to get back out there.

‘So, certainly knew that. Did I think it was going to be a 25-point [first] half? No. But as she so often does, when she gets hot, it’s a streak.’

It took a little bit for Clark to get going, but this crowd – many of whom descended upon the area around the arena a couple of hours before – were happy to be patient.

The Liberty raced out to 17-6 lead as Sabrina Ionescu was the most impressive guard on the court in the early stages.

Yet it wasn’t too long before Clark, who only scored her second field goal with 3:06 remaining in the first quarter, got going.

Things rapidly shifted in the next few minutes. Clark ended the period with 14 points, the Fever found themselves down just two and the Fever fans were on their feet.

The offense kept humming from there, as Lexie Hull and Kelsey Mitchell had productive first halves too, while Clark ended the half with a fairly astonishing 25. And she wasn’t done just yet.

Ionescu awoke again to begin the third quarter, scoring a quick five points. A pair of free throws from Nastaha Cloud (after a bucket a couple of minutes before) then flipped the advantage to a six-point lead for the visitors to briefly quiet an enthusiastic daytime crowd. Clark and her teammates, though, were determined to hand the Liberty their first loss of the season.

The former Iowa star continued getting to her spots at will, Aliyah Boston helped with some makes inside and the Liberty – without key starter Jonquel Jones – struggled to keep up with a high-octane Fever offense as the lead stretched to as much as 13 in the third quarter.

Clark was given a technical foul at one point during the game for barking at the refs

Sabrina Ionescu had a strong game despite the Liberty’s loss, scoring 34 points

Clark showed a rare bit of mortality towards the end of the third quarter when she missed a pair of free throws, which took some air out of the building.

Coupled with several turnovers in the fourth quarter – one sequence saw her cough up the ball on consecutive possessions – the Liberty were given the chance to stick around. They obliged (if only for a bit) as the lead shrunk to four before Boston and Mitchell made some big plays with Clark getting a breather.

She checked back into the game for the final time with 3:43 left and an 11-point Fever lead, and put any chances of an already-improbable Liberty comeback to bed with a couple of nifty assists.

Clark had said before the win that it ‘almost feels like the start of the season’ given that she only played four games before getting hurt.

There can’t be any doubt after this stunning performance that she’s in midseason form.