Both Caitlin Clark and DiJonai Carrington reject the idea that the jab that left Clark with a black eye in their Game 1 playoff matchup was intentional.
Carrington poked the Indiana Fever star in the eye in the first quarter of the Connecticut Sun’s 93-69 win in Game 1 of their opening-round playoff series on Sunday. Though Clark finished the game without incident, she was left with a black eye.
Like many other fouls Clark has committed this season, it has generated a lot of discussion on social media in recent days. While it was clearly an unintentional basketball play, Carrington was asked if she had intentionally poked Clark on Tuesday, ahead of their game on Wednesday night.
“I don’t even know why I would want to hit someone in the eye,” Carrington said. “That’s nonsense to me. But no, I didn’t. I didn’t actually know I hit her. I was trying to make a move on the ball and I think I followed through and hit her.
“It’s obviously never intentional. That’s not even the type of player I am.”
I asked DiJonai Carrington about that moment early in Sunday’s Indiana-Connecticut game when she hit Caitlin Clark in the eye. Here’s her response: photo.twitter.com/DnQVYi0r6J
— Christine Brennan (@cbrennansports) September 24, 2024
Clark echoed Carrington’s comments.
“It was absolutely not intentional,” she said. “Just watch the play.”
The Sun cruised to a dominant 24-point victory in Sunday’s game at Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut thanks to a triple-double from Alyssa Thomas. Clark, who is expected to win Rookie of the Year honors this season and finished fourth in league MVP voting, was limited to 11 points on 4-of-17 shooting from the field. The game was the Fever’s first playoff appearance since 2016.
The Fever need to win on Wednesday night to extend their three-game winning streak.
“We know we can beat this team. We’ve done it,” Clark said, via ESPN’s Andrea Adelson. “Obviously they’re really, really good and we know it’s going to be a challenge, but I don’t think we shy away from it. I think you just embrace the challenge.
“We know we didn’t see our best side [Sunday] and maybe the final score really looks like we’ve been blown out, but we had it up to six points. We had it up to eight points. It’s just that we never really got over the hump.”
