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Caitlin Clark missed a second straight game due to her left groin injury, knocking the Indiana Fever star out of what would have been a matchup of the past two No. 1 picks in the WNBA draft. Clark did not play in the Fever's 94-86 win over the Dallas Wings and rookie Paige Bueckers on Friday night. Clark also missed Thursday night's game, an 85-75 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks. Friday's game was played at the American Airlines Center, home of the Dallas Mavericks. It was the first time the Wings have played a home game away from the arena on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington. Bueckers sparked a rally by beating the first-half buzzer with a long 3-pointer after a steal and finished with 27 points despite a cold start from the field. Clark did not miss a game in college or her first year in the WNBA. But she recently returned from a left quad injury that held her out for five games, when Indiana went 2-3. Clark had averaged 17.8 points over five games since her return but had struggled of late from distance, making just 1 of 23 3-point attempts over her past three games. Fever coach Stephanie White had said Thursday that she found out about Clark's latest injury late Wednesday night, after the training staff had taken her for an MRI. White said she thought it was "very much a day-to-day thing ... how she responds to treatment." After Friday's game in Dallas, Indiana is off until Tuesday's Commissioner's Cup championship game at the Minnesota Lynx. Clark is averaging 18.2 points, 8.9 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game, while Bueckers was at 17.7 points, 5.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds entering Friday. Bueckers has missed four games this season, first with a concussion and then an illness. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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