TheIndiana Fever, the newly minted2025 Commissioner's Cup Champions, return home to Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Thursday, July 3 to face off against the Las Vegas Aces withoutCaitlin Clark. Clark will sit out her fourth consecutivegameThursday due to a left groin injury, which also kept her out of theFever's 74-59 winover theMinnesota Lynxin the2025 Commissioner's Cup finalon July 1. She's set to miss her ninth game of the season after a quad injury sidelined her five games last month. The Fever have gone 4-4 without Clark in the lineup, but eagerly await her return to the court. "(I'm) doing everything I can to put myself in a position to play the next game every single time,"Clark saidon June 29. "That's always my goal—to be available for the next game. Doing everything I can with the medical staff to be able to get my body right and be able to do that." Despite being listed as "day-to-day," Clark was ruled out of Thursday's matchup one day before the game.Fever head coach Stephanie White saidJuly 2 that the team was taking a cautious approach with Clark and putting "her long-term health and wellness at the forefront." "I think it's five games before All-Star break," White continued, "so let's just ease her mind even though she's antsy, and let's do this the right way and make sure we're ready to go and 100% when she comes back." Here's everything you need to know about the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year's playing status: 2025 WNBA COMMISSIONER'S CUP:Highlights, recap as Fever beat Lynx OPINION:Conspiracy theory about Clark, jealous players much ado about nothing No. Clark was ruled out for Thursday's matchup against the Aces, the second meeting between the two teams this season. The Fever lost the first matchup 89-81 in Las Vegas on June 22. Clark had 19 points, 10 assists and three rebounds in the loss. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 3. It can be streamed on Prime Video. Head coachStephanie White saidshe first learned of Clark's groin injury on June 25 following the Fever's 94-86 win over the Seattle Storm on June 24, where Clark finished with six points (3-of-13 FG, 0-of-6), nine assists, three steals and two rebounds in 31 minutes of play. Clark previously suffered a quad injury during theFever's 90-88 loss to the New York Libertyon May 24. Clark returned to the Fever's lineup on June 14 in theFever's 102-88 win over the Libertyafter missing five games, which officially ended her longest stretch of missed due to injury in her collegiate or WNBA career. She dropped 32 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in her first game back. "No one said this season was going to be perfect for us. There's going to be ups and downs," Clark said on June 29. "From injuries or coaches not being here for a couple of games. Everybody has been through a little bit of adversity here. So I think just giving our group credit for being able to stick together and know that whatever we have in our locker room is really all we need to go out there and win. I'm just proud of our group." Clark ranks second in the WNBA in assists per game to start the 2025 season. Here's a look at the 2024 Rookie of the Year's full stats (per game): Games played: 9 Minutes: 33.3 Points: 18.2 Rebounds: 5.0 Assists: 8.9 Steals: 1.6 Blocks: 0.7 Turnovers: 5 FG%: 39.0 3P%: 29.5 The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Caitlin Clark injury update: Will Fever star play vs. Aces today?
