Caitlin Clark, DiJonai Carrington Downplay Video of Fever Star Getting Hit in Eye

After Connecticut Sun guard DiJonai Carrington made contact with Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark's eye during Game 1 of their first-round series, many detractors questioned whether the act was intentional.

However, both Clark and Carrington downplayed the moment while speaking to reporters on Tuesday. Clark found humor in the notion that Carrington intentionally hit her.

"It wasn't intentional by any means," Clark said with a laugh. "You just watch the play, it wasn't intentional."

Carrington said she wasn't aware that she even made contact with Clark at first because she was simply trying to defend her opponent.

"I don't even know why I would intend to hit anybody in the eye. That doesn't even make sense to me. But no, I didn't. I didn't know I hit her, actually. I was trying to make a play on the ball and I guess I followed through and I hit her. Obviously, it's never intentional. That's not even the type of player that I am," Carrington said. She was also asked if she was laughing about the moment later, and she shot that down.

The play occurred in the first quarter of Sunday's Game 1 between the Fever and the Sun while Clark was making a pass. While Clark went down in pain, no foul was called.

The Sun went on to earn a dominant 93-69 win over the Fever. Clark was limited to 11 points on 4-of-17 shooting with eight assists, four rebounds and three steals.

Despite being on the verge of elimination in Wednesday's Game 2, Clark expressed optimism that Indiana will be able to keep its season alive.

"I don't want this to end. ... I feel like it's been a very special year for our organization and our goal is to get to the playoffs, but everybody in our locker room believes we can win this series," she said. "This is obviously a must-win for us and we believe we can come in here and win that."