Caitlin Clark will not play when the Indiana Fever face the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday, July 5, leaving the Fever without their biggest draw for a game that starts at 6 p.m. CT and streams on and Disney+.
Clark said Friday she would sit out after missing multiple practices in the week leading up to the matchup. The absence extends the run of games she has missed since leaving the Fever’s game against the Phoenix Mercury early on June 24 with a back injury, then sitting out again on June 27.
That makes Sunday’s meeting more than a marquee broadcast. It is a checkpoint in how Indiana manages a player whose availability can change the shape of the game itself. The Fever are in their 20th regular-season game, so every decision around Clark carries more weight than a single night on the schedule.
The Aces, meanwhile, enter with A'ja Wilson expected back after she missed the team’s 93-85 loss to the New York Liberty on June 30. Wilson leads the Las Vegas Aces in points, rebounds, steals and blocks this season, which is one reason the matchup still has star power even without Clark on the floor.
The one fact that matters beyond Sunday is what Clark said about what comes next. She is targeting a return in at least one of the team’s back-to-back games on its upcoming road trip out West, which means the Fever still do not have a full answer on when she will be back — only that the wait may not last much longer.
