For one, this marks the fresh start of what’s expected to be a historic WNBA season, especially because of all the positivity that stemmed from the league office and players’ association agreeing to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) last month. Then there’s the fact that New York and Indiana should be two of the league’s top teams this year, and both boast extremely impressive rosters.<\/p>\n
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New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20), and forward Breanna Stewart (30) | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
However, it’s important for fans to reduce their expectations at least a little bit. This is because, well, this isn’t a regular season game, which means that many things will be different. <\/p>\n
One example of this is with players who aren’t active<\/a>. For the Fever, this is Aliyah Boston, Ty Harris, and Lexie Hull (plus Damiris Dantas, who just rejoined the team due to visa issues). For the Liberty, this is Satou Sabally plus several other standout players.<\/p>\n The good news is that Fever head coach Stephanie White said her players (aside from Dantas) would have been healthy enough to play if this was a regular season game.<\/p>\n Caitlin Clark’s Minutes Restriction Makes Sense For Fever Preseason Game vs Liberty<\/p>\n Another indication that this isn’t a regular season game is that the star players won’t be playing their usual minutes. <\/p>\n This includes Caitlin Clark, which she conveyed when speaking to the media before Saturday’s contest tipped off. <\/p>\n Clark noted that she’ll be playing between 20 and 25 minutes on Saturday, per <\/a>Robin Lundberg of Indiana Fever on SI. This isn’t a minutes restriction, but more of a strategic decision.<\/p>\n Caitlin Clark expects to play 20-25 minutes today.<\/p>\n \u2014 Robin Lundberg (@robinlundberg) April 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n “I expect to be out there. And basically, I’m pretty sure we’re planning on treating the first half like a regular game, and I expect New York to probably do the same. And then, second half, a lot of other people are probably gonna get some run. But yeah, I expect to play a good amount,” Clark said per an X post from Geoff Magliochetti.<\/p>\n This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as the Fever are going to be as cautious as possible when bringing Clark up to game speed (especially because of her injuries last season). <\/p>\n Caitlin Clark\u2019s expectations today:#WNBA<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/YNYcNhvGPN<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Geoff Magliocchetti (@GeoffJMags) April 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n But Clark should be ramping up gradually throughout this preseason and should be at her normal minutes (which should be somewhere between 32 and 35) by Indiana’s opening night against the Dallas Wings. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\"){kind=icon}
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