Caitlin Clark rues what could have been as she and the Fever head into offseason

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Injuries forced Caitlin Clark to sit on the bench a year ago and watch her Fever teammates have their season ended by the Aces.

Clark was in the middle of the action this time, but the result was the same after Las Vegas eliminated Indiana 94-83 in Game 3 of the first round Thursday night.

“I'm just proud of this group," Clark said. “We weathered a lot. There's always so much outside noise, a microscope on how we perform every single day. A lot of really good moments. A lot of tough moments, too, where we felt we probably gave a lot of opportunities away. It's what hurts a little bit. We could've put ourselves in a better spot going into the postseason.”

The Fever had the chance to possibly get home-court advantage in the first round, but went 4-4 to end the season and entered the playoffs with the sixth seed. That put them up against the third-seeded Aces, who have won three of the past four WNBA championships.

Even Las Vegas isn't scrutinized as much as Indiana, mostly because of Clark's presence. To many, she is the face of the league, even though the Aces' A'ja Wilson likely will extend her record for MVPs to five.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver referred to Clark as a “political football” in July, and many of her fans claim she gets officiated differently than other players, that opponents are free to be more physical with her.

Those fans could cite what happened in the fourth quarter as such an example when Clark suffered a bloody mouth after taking a shot to her face. She pleaded her case to the officials, but no foul was called, and Clark fiddled with what appeared to be a loose tooth in the postgame news conference.

“Your guess would be as good as mine,” Clark said on why there was no foul.

Now she and Fever head into the offseason.

Clark spoke before the game that expectations are for them to win the championship at some point, and she said she believed the Fever have the talent to accomplish that. She spoke afterward of the parity in the league and said any team in the playoffs can win the title.

The Fever came close to beating Las Vegas and maybe making a run at it, twice cutting the deficit to two points in the fourth quarter.

But after the Fever scored 31 points in the first quarter, they didn't have more than 18 in any of the three remaining periods.

Clark scored 11 points in the opening quarter, making 4 of 7 shots that included 3 of 6 from 3-point range. After that period, she scored seven points while making 2 of 11 baskets and missing all six 3-point attempts.

“They made it difficult, but we've made a lot of those shots throughout the year, too,” Clark said. “At the same time, we were right there despite some of the poor shooting.”

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