Subscribe
Follow Us
Caitlin Clark has been grabbing the majority of the headlines amid the Indiana Fever's rise from mediocrity over the past few seasons into playoff contention. Clark has been the main difference-maker for the Fever after all, as she has proven to be the engine of Indiana's offense both on the shot-creation and playmaking side of the ball. But the 22-year-old guard hasn't been alone in turning the Fever's fortunes around. The second-longest tenured player on the roster, Kelsey Mitchell, has also taken a huge leap, especially as of late.
Mitchell has been phenomenal over the course of the Fever's winning streak, which they extended to five games following their 93-86 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday night. She may have had a down evening, as she scored “just” 18 points on 8-18 shooting from the field, paling in comparison to the 27.8 points per game she averaged over her past four outings, but she still made history in the process of doing so.
By scoring a total of 129 points on a scorching hot 30-44 shooting from two-point range (68.2 percent), 17-36 from beyond the arc (47.2 percent), and 18-20 from the charity stripe (90 percent) over the Fever's five-game winning streak, Kelsey Mitchell, according to StatMamba on X, became just the first player in WNBA history to average at least 25+ points on at least 55 percent shooting from two, 40 percent shooting from three, and 90 percent shooting from the line over the course of a winning streak that spans at least five games.
Mitchell has been one of the best guards in the WNBA this season, and this blazing stretch of games is further cementing her place as a legitimate superstar in the league. She is posting the best scoring averages of her career in 2024 while being the most efficient she has been from all scoring levels on the court — a huge leap for the Fever guard.
The 28-year-old guard's playstyle was made for today's brand of basketball. She is one of the most fearless gunners in the league, but she's not a shot-chucker who just hoists up attempts for the sake of doing so. She plays within the offense and defers playmaking duties to Caitlin Clark, and she has been rewarded with the best season of her career to this point.
She has been through the trenches with the Fever, and now, Mitchell is reaping the rewards of her hard work and patience. Indiana is now playoff-bound, and Mitchell has played such a crucial part in the team's transformation.
Kelsey Mitchell finally experiences glory with the Fever
From the moment the Fever's franchise GOAT, Tamika Catchings, decided to hang up her sneakers, the team fell off quite precipitously. From 2017 to 2022, their win tally crossed the double-digit mark just once, with Kelsey Mitchell experiencing the pain of what it's like to be a prominent part of a losing organization.
The Fever drafted Mitchell with the second overall pick of the 2018 WNBA Draft. Had Indiana finished with the worst record in the association, they would have been in pole position to draft A'ja Wilson, who didn't take long to turn the Las Vegas Aces into a powerhouse.
Mitchell was inefficient from the field in her first few years in the association, and she seemed almost miscast as the team's primary playmaker. But now that she has settled into her role as a score-first off-guard alongside Caitlin Clark, she has flourished, and in turn, the Fever have as well.
