INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark did not play in Wednesday's home game against the Portland Fire after being ruled out two hours before tipoff due to a back injury. Clark was listed as probable for the following night's game against the Golden State Valkyries.

Fever head coach Stephanie White said the team had expected Clark to play until she woke up with a sore back on game day. "She's healthy. We're not managing anything. This is just a back issue that we want to make sure we give the time to be ready." White said she did not anticipate the injury to linger and that the team held Clark out just to be safe. She said she is not a doctor and deferred to the team's medical staff regarding the injury.

"Clark's back is sore," she said, again deferring to the training staff for further details.

White said Clark missed practice on Tuesday to receive treatment but went through workouts after practice. Clark was not listed on the Fever's injury report on Tuesday. The WNBA requires teams to report player injuries and participation status by 5 p.m. local time the day before a game. She said that players who do not practice are not always listed on the injury report. Asked whether she believed the Fever would be fined for their handling of Clark's injury, White said, "No."

Clark's injury was initially reported as a strategic management plan. The Fever used load-management strategies to rest Clark after playing four games in eight days.

After the season-opening game against the Wings, Clark said, "Just getting my back adjusted. It gets out of line pretty quickly. So just getting my back put back in place a little bit. But other than that, feel great."

Through the first four games of the 2026 season, Clark averaged 24.3 points and 9.0 assists per game. Last year, she appeared in 13 games due to multiple injuries.