Fever's Caitlin Clark takes her rough playoff debut in stride

Shortly after being named the unanimous 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year, Caitlin Clark delivered a dud in her postseason debut. But the Indiana Fever star isn't panicking.

After the Fever dropped Game 1 of their three-game opening-round series against the Connecticut Sun, 93-69, Clarke owned her poor performance.

"I felt like I got good shots. They just didn't go down," Clark said via Matthew Byrne of Clutch Sports. "Obviously, a tough time for that to happen."

The 2024 No. 1 pick finished with only 11 points, shooting 4-of-17 from the field and 2-of-13 from three-point range. Despite plenty of looks, Clark struggled to find a rhythm, especially from beyond the arc, where she missed her first eight attempts.

Clark doesn't seem to believe her bad luck will continue. Meanwhile, Sun forward DeWanna Bonner, who guarded the young All-Star for most of the game, doesn't either.

"She's a great player," Bonner said via Fever reporter Tony East. "I know next game she's going to come out firing."

In the first quarter, Clark got inadvertently poked in the eye by Sun guard DiJonai Carrington, resulting in a noticeable shiner. Though, she didn't use that as an excuse for a lackluster outing, telling reporters, "I don't think it affected me, honestly."

Perhaps most importantly, Clark sounded optimistic about her game and the team's chances to stay alive against the Sun. Even though the Fever fell by 24 points, she found hope in the fact that they battled through three quarters, trailing 68-57, before being outscored 25-12 in the fourth.

"We were right there," Clark said. "I felt like we just played a crappy game. The flow of the game was really bad."