The Indiana Fever (3-4) have big ambitions this season, but they cannot accomplish them without Caitlin Clark. The sensational guard has missed the last three games with a quadriceps strain, and fans are eager to find out when she will get back on the court. They received some promising news on Thursday. Clark told reporters she is progressing nicely in her recovery and will be re-evaluated over the weekend, per ESPN's Alexa Philippou.

The All-WNBA First-Team selection is not ruling out a return in Tuesday's road matchup versus the Atlanta Dream, but she is exercising caution. “I feel like I've made a lot of progress, and I feel good, and not gonna rush coming back,” Clark said, per Philippou. “It's just not worth it.”

The longer the 2024 Rookie of the Year is out, the harder it will be for Indiana to build momentum during the 2025 campaign. However, the team has virtually no chance of doing anything worthwhile in the playoffs if the phenom suffers a serious setback and is stuck on the bench for the rest of the year. The Fever will trudge on without Clark for now, knowing what they are capable of when at full strength.

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Indy is 1-2 in the 23-year-old's absence, ending a three-game skid with an 85-76 victory over the Washington Mystics this past Tuesday. Perhaps Kelsey Mitchell and company can earn back-to-back wins for the first time this year when they battle the Chicago Sky (2-4) in Wintrust Arena on Saturday night.

Considering the ratings magic the Clark-Reese rivalry invariably creates, along with the players' viral exchange in the season opener, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is surely cursing the basketball gods for keeping the face of the league out of action for that contest. Nonetheless, the show must go on.

A healthy Caitlin Clark is good for the entire sport. Fortunately, it sounds like that scenario is close to becoming a reality once again.