The Indiana Fever may have dodged a major bullet during Thursday’s preseason showdown against the Dallas Wings, but the scare was enough to send a ripple of concern through the WNBA community. In a game that featured the league’s last four No. 1 overall draft picks, all eyes were on Caitlin Clark as she delivered a standout performance—until a sudden injury scare threatened to overshadow it all.

With 21 points in just 16 minutes, Clark was absolutely cruising, draining shots and commanding the floor. But everything came to a halt when she landed awkwardly after a three-point attempt, following a hard foul from Wings forward Alanna Smith—the reigning co-Defensive Player of the Year. Smith was assessed a Flagrant 1 on the play, and Clark was seen limping immediately after. She sank two of her three free throws before being pulled from the game for the remainder of the night.

Fans held their breath, but Clark quickly downplayed the incident. “Just landed on my kneecap really hard,” she told reporters postgame, adding that she felt “good.” Still, the Fever weren’t taking any chances. Head coach Stephanie White revealed that while Clark was already scheduled to exit early in the third quarter, the injury scare made the decision to sit her a no-brainer.

“It was just extra precaution,” White explained. “You could kind of see in her face—it was like, ‘Alright, she took one.’ We had planned for her to come out around that time anyway, but getting her out in that moment was the right call.”

With the 2026 regular season just a week away, this cautious approach is exactly what Fever fans want to hear. Clark’s explosive debut has already made her the centerpiece of Indiana’s offense, and keeping her healthy is priority number one. For now, it looks like the scare was just that—a scare—and the Fever can breathe a sigh of relief as they gear up for opening night.