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Back in mid-August, returning from the WNBA Olympic break, the pathway to the playoffs was visible for the Indiana Fever. With 14 more games to go in the regular season, and holding onto the second-to-last playoff spot by three games, they’d play nine more home games. Sellouts at home are the norm, too. Simply win most of those games and the Fever would probably be in.
So far, through three home games and four on the road, Indiana is 6-1.
That’s the catch: the Fever haven’t even had to rely on their upcoming six-game homestand, and yet they could clinch the playoffs, with favorable results, as soon as Wednesday when the slew of home games begin. The Fever went to the Windy City on Friday night and beat the Chicago Sky by 19 points. On Sunday, they scrapped to beat the Dallas Wings, 100-93, for their fourth straight win.
Time and flourishing team chemistry were the answer, but also being acquainted with travel.
“It’s hard, especially when you’re going on long road trips,” Clark said Friday before scoring 31 points to beat the Sky. “But at the same time, you have to remind yourself, every team is dealing with the same thing… as a professional athlete, you got to be able to take care of your body… nobody’s going to be there to babysit you. I think our group has done a really good job of that.”
Indiana has paid the price. For the first four games of the season, the Fever were tasked with traveling back-and-forth to play the Connecticut Sun and New York Liberty. They were swept in those four games by the now two best teams in the league. To reward their sacrifice, the Fever were granted vacation: by way of three-game road trip at Seattle, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. They dropped to 1-6.
By May 30, or nine games in 17 days, the Fever dropped to 1-8.
In the past week, the Fever played five games in only nine days. They went 4-1.
“They’re tired right now,” Fever coach Christie Sides said Sunday. “They’ve laid it out there. We just keep talking about emptying our tank… whenever you’re out in those 40 minutes. Just the confidence that they’re playing with. I’m proud of the — the road games have been tough. We fought Minnesota (on Aug. 24) and lost that one by 10. That one could have gone either way.”
“We just keep talking about momentum, keeping our foot on the gas,” Sides added.
Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell continue fiery streak of play
There is no stopping Kelsey Mitchell right now. The veteran tallied her seventh consecutive contest scoring 20-plus points, and already at five eclipsed the franchise record. Mitchell put up her season-best 36 points at Dallas, shooting an efficient 5-for-7 beyond the arc. Oh, and four of those came in the second half. Mitchell always seems to lead the team in the back half.
Leading 92-91 with two minutes left, Mitchell, somehow, was left open and plunged the knife.
“Our pace is setting us apart from a lot of different teams,” Mitchell said.
Clark’s statline on Sunday was almost identical to Friday: 28 points and 12 assists, making five 3-pointers. She was hounded by fellow Dallas rookie Jacy Sheldon for much of the first half. It disrupted the fluidness of the offense—not terribly—but noticeably. Though as time went on, Clark broke the spell, splashing some off-balance triples with eight assists in the second half.
She now has the most points by any rookie in Fever franchise history: 617 and counting.
Also, 617. 6-1 in 17 days since the Olympic Break. It must be fate the Fever recuperated.
Clark had mentioned in May all the failures would pay off in due time.
Fever could’ve thrown in the towel, but they scrapped for the win
Things were slipping in the third quarter. Satou Sabally, who didn’t play for Dallas the last time these teams met, swished three consecutive triples in the third. 2024 All-Star Game MVP, Arike Ogunbowale, added to the run too. An MVP candidate for this season, Ogunbowale scored 34 points, with nine 3-pointers. She was held to three points in the fourth.
An 11-0 run got Indiana back in it. If trailing by 13 points at Chicago midway through the first quarter Friday was bad, then nine points to Dallas was nothing. The Fever have developed. The last time they played Dallas was July 17, the final game leading into the break. Indiana tied it with two minutes and some change. They lost 101-93, the reverse of Sunday basically.
The Fever could’ve packed up mentally in the third quarter and went home with the loss, the homestand in reach. That wasn’t acceptable. They muscled through the 39 combined fouls. The Fever put up 100 points in back-to-back games for the first time ever — both on the road.
“I think all that travel we did early, I think that prepared us,” Sides said, chuckling. “We kinda knew what was coming… a lot of other teams are going through that travel right now. We get to get on that charter plane and get home. They’ve earned every minute of the day off tomorrow.”
No games are gimmes this late in the season. Every team is battling for playoff positioning.
With their winning 17-16 record, the Fever stand as the queen of the hill through it all.
