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Caitlin Clark and DiJonai Carrington react to the incident at the CT Sun's win

Caitlin Clark's WNBA playoff debut didn't go quite according to plan for the Indiana Fever, but an incident involving a Connecticut Sun star caught fans' attention online.

DiJonai Carrington was assigned to guard Clark, as she had in previous meetings against the Fever. An attempt by Carrington to steal the ball failed and she accidentally hit the Fever superstar in the eye. Clark finished the game scoring just 11 points, allowing Connecticut to win Game 1 of the best-of-three first-round series.

Every physical incident involving Clark is hyped up on social media, as WNBA rookies and Clark fans believe the 22-year-old is being targeted out of supposed jealousy of her popularity. And as she has in the past, the Fever guard has put those conspiracies to rest.

“It was not intentional by any means. They just watched the game, it was not intentional,” Clark told reporters, according to Matthew Byrne of Clutch Points.

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Clark laughed at the question, as these incidents happen from time to time in both men's and women's games. Carrington agreed that her eye-poking of Clark was unintentional.

“I don't even know why I wanted to hit somebody in the eye,” Carrington told reporters, according to Christine Brennan. “That doesn't make sense to me. But no, I didn't. I didn't actually know I had hit them. I wanted to play the ball, and I guess I followed through and hit them, so obviously it's never intentional, that's not even the type of player I am.”

Carrigton's availability took a strange turn when Brennan asked the Sun-Sentinel if she laughed about the accidental eye-poke with Marina Mabrey. The reporter didn't seem to understand the Connecticut duo's Carmelo Anthony-inspired three-point celebration, but it seemed Clark and Carrington were ready to put it aside and move on to Game 2.

Connecticut would advance to the next round of the WNBA playoffs with a win over Indiana on Wednesday at Mohegan Sun Arena.

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