Caitlin Clark Comes Off the Bench, Puts Up 14 Points and 11 Assists as Team USA Routs China 94-61

Caitlin Clark didn't start Team USA's FIBA Women's World Cup opener against China on Friday, Sept. 4, in Berlin. She checked in midway through the first quarter and finished with 14 points and 11 assists without a single turnover as the Americans blew out China 94-61, according to NBC Sports and The Guardian.

Head coach Kara Lawson started five veterans: Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, Kahleah Copper, Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, according to Sports Illustrated. Clark, Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese, the sport's rising next generation, all came off the bench. Bueckers matched Clark's 14 points, as did Rhyne Howard. Young added 12.

The win extended Team USA's streak to 31 straight World Cup victories dating back to a 2006 semifinal loss to Russia, and 67 straight wins combined across Olympic and World Cup play, according to NBC Sports.

The Backlash

Fans didn't wait for the final score to react. Newsweek rounded up social media reaction blasting Lawson's decision, with one commenter writing, "The reigning MVP and the team's best player doesn't start? Only in the women's game would this ever happen." Another compared it to "if in 1992 the Men's team didn't start Jordan," referencing the Dream Team at the Barcelona Olympics.

That frustration reflects fans who've watched Clark reshape the WNBA this season. She set a WNBA record in August with 44.7 points created per game (scoring plus assists), became the first player in league history with back-to-back 30-point, 10-assist games, and is sitting second in the league with 302 assists, per Heavy.com. She dropped 37 points on 8-of-12 shooting from three against the Chicago Sky on Aug. 23 and followed with 34 points and 12 assists against the Connecticut Sun days later. On pure merit and current form, plenty of fans expected her name in the starting five.

But the decision wasn't out of nowhere. Lawson didn't start Clark for most of the World Cup qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico back in March either, and Clark still walked away with tournament MVP honors after leading the U.S. to a 5-0 record, according to Sports Illustrated. Gray, meanwhile, brings two Olympic gold medals and a 2022 World Cup title to the point guard spot. Gold-medal experience the rest of the roster is still chasing. Lawson's call looks less like a snub and more like a coach leaning on players who've already won at this level, with a deep bench that lets her bring Clark in early and often anyway.

China's Size Problem, and Team USA's Depth

China made things briefly interesting behind 19-year-old center Zhang Ziyu, who stands 7-foot-3 and was making her World Cup debut. Zhang finished with 13 points on 9-of-10 free throw shooting and gave the Americans trouble in the paint, according to The Guardian. Pairing her with 6-foot-10 Han Xu (11 points, 10 rebounds) in the third quarter briefly cut the U.S. lead to 53-37, but the bench trio of Clark, Bueckers and Reese sparked a 17-5 run to close the period and put the game away.

All 12 Americans scored and played at least 10 minutes, a testament to a roster that had to adjust on the fly. A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum were both pulled from the roster earlier this week for health reasons, with Plum reportedly out for the rest of the WNBA season with a lower leg injury, according to NBC Sports. Lawson addressed the losses directly: "We wish them both a speedy recovery with what they're dealing with. Our group, we don't have time to be worried about who's not here."

Clark Report claimed Clark was the first American to reach double-digit assists in a World Cup game since Dawn Staley's 12-assist performance in the 1998 final against Russia. Heavy.com noted that an official USA Basketball or FIBA record confirming that specific claim wasn't immediately available, even as the Staley comparison itself checked out.

Team USA plays Italy on Sunday, Sept. 6, and closes group play against Czechia on Monday, Sept. 7, both at 2:45 p.m. ET. Quarterfinals begin the following Thursday. Whether Lawson sticks with her veteran-first lineup as the competition tightens, or whether Clark's bench production forces a change before the knockout rounds, remains an open question.