There are bigger goals in play for Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever than just making the playoffs, and the rookie didn’t have a massive celebration when her team clinched a postseason spot Tuesday.
“My reaction was I turned (off the TV) and went to sleep,” she told reporters Wednesday. “I didn’t even check my phone until the next morning.”
Indiana clinched a spot thanks to the Atlanta Dream’s loss to the Phoenix Mercury and the Chicago Sky’s loss to the Las Vegas Aces during Tuesday’s WNBA slate.
That the Fever clinched a playoff spot with seven games remaining in their regular-season slate is a testament to the turnaround Clark has helped orchestrate. After all, they won single-digit games in five of the previous seven seasons and were just 13-27 in 2023-24.
It looked to be more of the same with a 1-8 start to this season, but Clark and Co. have more than righted the ship and now sit at 17-16. That’s good enough for the No. 6 seed in the current WNBA standings, and there is still time to climb considering Indiana is 6-1 since the return from the Olympics break.
Clark had her first opportunity to truly rest in some time during that break considering she led Iowa to the national championship game in April and then had to turn right around in the WNBA as the No. 1 overall pick and new face of the franchise in Indiana.
She has returned with a rejuvenated level of play and was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month in August for averaging 24.0 points, 8.5 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game while leading the Fever to a 5-1 record.
Just making the playoffs is quite the accomplishment for Indiana given its recent history, but it isn’t a stretch to suggest it can make a deep run.
Four of those six wins since the Olympics break came against teams currently in playoff position, and one came against the 24-9 Connecticut Sun. Connecticut defeated the Fever in each of their first three matchups with two of the wins coming by double digits, so Clark and Co. are clearly closing the gap to some of the top teams.
It isn’t just the rookie, though, as Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston have thrived alongside the team’s new point guard. Mitchell is leading the Fever in scoring at 19.0 points per game, while Boston is pacing the rebounding with 9.0 boards a night.
Perhaps Indiana is still a year or two away from being a true contender, but it would be anything but a surprise if it won a playoff series or two with that trio leading the way.
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