Clark hurt again just before All-Star duty

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Indiana’s Caitlin Clark, left, fights back tears on the bench after injuring a groin late in Tuesday night’s game against Connecticut. Michael Dwyer / the Associated Press

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The Associated Press

The Indiana Fever might be without star guard Caitlin Clark again for a bit after she injured her groin Tuesday night late in a win over the Connecticut Sun.

She was out for the team’s 98-77 loss to the Liberty in New York on Wednesday night and her status for WNBA All-Star weekend, which Indiana is hosting, is up in the air.

Clark is supposed to compete in a 3-point contest Friday night and is captain of one of the All-Star teams.

“No discussion yet about this weekend.” Indiana coach Stephanie White said. “There was imaging done, but there hasn’t been any discussion beyond tonight.”

White said that Clark’s management team will figure out whether she’ll be able to participate this weekend.

“For me, it’s a big deal for us to have All-Star in Indianapolis, and of course, with Caitlin being a focal point of all of that. As the coach of the Indiana Fever, it’s not a bigger deal than our long-term season, but it’s also part of the fun,” White said. “Those are conversations that Caitlin will have with her group. I probably won’t be a part of those, but we’re going to support her no matter what.”

The coach said that Clark had imaging done Wednesday and deferred to the team’s training staff for more details except to say that she considered it good news.

“For me, anything that we’re talking about that’s still day to day is always good news for me, but that’s a layman’s viewpoint,” she said.

Clark got hurt with less a minute left Tuesday against Connecticut. She walked downcourt holding her right groin after assisting on the Fever’s final basket. Clark walked to the basket stanchion and banged her head against it before heading to the bench. During a timeout, she covered her head with a towel and appeared to be holding back tears.

Breanna Stewart had 24 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists to lift the Liberty.

Dream 86, Sky 49: Brittney Griner scored 15 points, Brionna Jones and Allisha Gray each added 14 points as Atlanta cruised at Chicago. Both teams were missing key starters. Chicago star Angel Reese missed her first game of the season with a leg injury and guard Ariel Atkins was out due to a calf injury.

Storm 67, Valkyries 58: Nneka Ogwumike scored 22 points to move into sixth place on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list as the Storm won in Seattle. Ogwumike passed Candice Dupree (6,895 points) by one point and is behind Tamika Catchings (7,380).

Lynx 79, Mercury 66: Kayla McBride scored 18 points, Courtney Williams had 12 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists as Minnesota improved to 12-0 at home this season, heading into the All-Star break.