INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — WNBA All-Star weekend was set to come to a close with the exhibition game between Team Clark and Team Collier on Saturday night.
Captain Caitlin Clark was unable to play for her team because of a groin injury she suffered earlier this week. The Indiana Fever star was still part of the team, expected to act as a coach at times during the game.
While not having Clark playing in the game put a damper on the weekend for the local fans, they were treated to a solid 3-point contest that saw New York’s Sabrina Ionescu win for the second time in three years on Friday night. Her Liberty teammate Natasha Cloud won the skills competition.
The game also featured rookies Paige Bueckers, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen making up the largest rookie contingent at the game since 2011. Citron and Iriafen are on Team Clark, and Bueckers is a starter for Napheesa Collier’s team.
The replacements
Kelsey Mitchell of the Indiana Fever and Jackie Young of the Las Vegas Aces were inserted into the starting lineup for Team Clark replacing Clark and Satou Sabally of Phoenix. Mitchell received a loud ovation from the fans who were happy to have another one of their players in the starting lineup.
New rules
The game featured once again a 4-point shot that was 28-feet from the rim — 6 feet farther than the current 3-point line. The game also included a 20-second shot clock instead of the normal 24 and the ability for teams to substitute during live play. There also were no free throws shot — not that there usually are many in an All-Star Game — until the final two minutes of the game. Instead players were automatically awarded the points All four rules had been used at some point during previous All-Star Games, but not all in the same one.
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