Caitlin Clark Gives Injury Update, Has No Plans for Minutes Restriction Amid Fever Playoff Race

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark has no plans to have her minutes managed as her team's season continues, per comments made in her pregame availability on Saturday prior to a road matchup against the Chicago Sky.

Clark, who was previously on a minutes restriction after coming back from a back injury, provided this answer Saturday in response to a question (2:24 mark) about whether her court time would be managed in light of her soon heading to Berlin for the FIBA World Cup, which will take place from Sept. 4-13.

"I don't have any plans on that. Well, me and [Fever head coach Stephanie White] haven't had those conversations, and I haven't really had those conversations with the medical staff and to be honest, coming back from when I miss some time, like, I feel really good. I felt great over the course of the last few games and obviously my minutes have been really high, 38 last game.

"But I feel like I'm very honest and have great feel with my body, and I'm never gonna lie to the medical staff about how I feel and even lie to myself about how I feel. So if there comes a point where that needs to happen, I'll definitely be very honest about that, but right now, I feel really good, and August is a really big month for us.

"We play a lot of really, really talented teams and we have to be able to show up every single night, so I don't really have plans on taking a minutes restriction or anything like that, and for me, I'm just excited. I get to play a lot of basketball here in the next two months, so just a great opportunity."

Entering Saturday, Clark had averaged 34.8 minutes per game in her last four contests, and she hasn't played fewer than 33 minutes in any of those games, so it's safe to say her minutes restriction is long gone.

Looking ahead, the Fever play eight games in 18 days from Aug. 11-28. That stretch includes two games apiece against the New York Liberty and Dallas Wings and one against the Atlanta Dream. Those three teams (and the Fever) all have 19 victories, and all are in the playoff picture right now. In addition, they're all fighting for a top-four seed, which guarantees homecourt advantage in Round 1.

So, to Clark's point, Indiana is entering a tough stretch entering the FIBA World Cup break. If she's healthy, then it makes sense for the Fever to continue to play Clark her full allotment of minutes.

That appears to be the case as Indiana hopes for a strong finish to the regular season.