TheIndiana Feverare facing theWashington Mysticsfor the first time of the 2025 WNBA seasonon Wednesday. It will mark the first time since the final game of the 2023 WNBA regular season that the Fever will be without the services of star point guardCaitlin Clarkas she deals with a left quad injury. In Clark's stead, the Fever are expected to primarily rely onSydney ColsonandSophie Cunninghamto man the point. Meanwhile, centerAliyah Bostonand off-the-ball guardKelsey Mitchellwill be asked to shoulder a larger scoring load with the sharpshooting Clark out of the lineup. CAITLIN CLARK INJURY:Fever taking 'long-game approach' to star's absence Here's what to know about Clark's status both for Wednesday's game and moving forward. Clark is not expected to play in the Fever's game against the Mystics on Wednesday. She will miss her first game of the 2025 WNBA season as she deals with a left quad strain. Clark's absence will mark the first time during her college and professional careers she has missed a game due to injury. She played 139 games while at Iowa and 46 games during her first season-plus with the Fever. CAITLIN CLARK INJURY EFFECT:Ticket prices drastically fall with Indiana Fever star out The Fever announced Mondaythat Clark is expected to miss a minimum of two weeks while recovering from a left quad strain. "I don't know when it happened," Fever coach Stephanie White said of the injury Monday, according tothe Indianapolis Star. "I know (after the Liberty game) we got a message that something was going on with her leg and they were getting an MRI, and then we got the word." White clarified Clark's injury is a new one and is not an aggravation of the left quad injury that caused the star point guard to miss a preseason game against the Mystics. Indiana is set to play four games during the initial two weeks Clark is expected to be out of the lineup. They are as follows: Wednesday, May 28: at Washington Mystics Friday, May 30: vs.Connecticut Sun Tuesday, June 3: vs. Washington Mystics Saturday, June 7: atChicago Sky As difficult as Clark's absence will be for the Fever, White said the silver lining is it happened early in the season. "Certainly we'd rather have it early than late," White said. "It's a great opportunity for our team to find an identity. It's a great opportunity for our team to play in a different way. And I also think it's a great opportunity for Caitlin to watch the game from the sideline and to grow and almost like a coaching kind of mindset, and see some different things that we might be talking about on film, addressing in practice, to see it develop in live action." Clark is the Fever's leading scorer and leads 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: Minutes: 35 Points: 19 Rebounds: 6 Assists: 9.3 Steals: 1.3 Blocks: 1 Turnovers: 5 FG%: 40.3 3P%: 31.4 The biggest stories, every morning. Stay up-to-date on all the key sports developments bysubscribing to USA TODAY Sports' newsletter. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Caitlin Clark injury update: Is Fever star playing today vs Mystics?
