Fever coach Stephanie White rules out Caitlin Clark despite star saying she feels 100 percent physically

Caitlin Clark says she feels great. Stephanie White still kept her on the sidelines.

Thursday night's decision ahead of the Fever's road matchup against the Phoenix Mercury raises more questions than answers.

After returning Wednesday night from a lingering back injury and logging 16 carefully managed minutes against the Los Angeles Sparks, Clark felt encouraged by how her body responded.

STEPHANIE WHITE GIVES CAITLIN CLARK STATUS UPDATE AHEAD OF FEVER-SPARKS, BUT HER NEXT MOVE RAISES QUESTIONS

"I told our trainers after the game that it stinks we didn't win, and we didn't play very well, but I'll take it as a win how my body feels and how I really felt out there," Clark said (via Indy Star's Chloe Peterson) after Wednesday's loss to the LA Sparks.

"I didn't even feel very winded."

Before that game even tipped off, the Fever ruled her out against the Mercury. The official injury report listed the reason as "rest."

Fever head coach Stephanie White revealed before Wednesday's game that the plan all along was to split the back-to-back between Clark and All-Star forward Aliyah Boston.

"Yeah, [Boston] just did some of the shooting," White said before the game.

"She's gonna be out tonight, again, with the back-to-back. ... Caitlin's gonna be active tonight, AB's not, and then they'll flip-flop tomorrow."

CAITLIN CLARK DEFENDS COACH STEPHANIE WHITE AFTER SIDELINE CONFRONTATION SPARKS DEBATE

Clark's own assessment gave the Fever new information, but the original plan never changed.

The Fever are entitled to be cautious.

Clark is the face of the franchise and the engine behind Indiana's offense. Protecting her is understandable.

She played only 16 minutes Wednesday. Coach White's strategy was to put out Caitlin for three-minute spurts throughout the game.

The approach didn't work.

"It’s just really hard when you’re playing three minutes, (sub) out, three minutes, three minutes, then you’re on the bench," Clark added Wednesday night.

"It’s really, really hard to get into a flow. For the most part, I got good looks, some of them went, some of them didn’t. I probably didn’t get to have a feel for the game as I usually do, like it’s just really, really hard for me to play in that scenario, but overall, my body feels great, so that’s the positive I can take from today."

Thursday's matchup against the Mercury presents another test, with the Fever (12-9) short their best playmaker.

Perhaps White's plan will pay off in the long run. That still doesn't explain the jump from a 16-minute restriction to a full night off.

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