The Indiana Fever were a top-three title contender at the start of the season. Now, after a rash of injuries, the preseason darlings are in danger of falling out of playoff contention.<\/p>\n
Caitlin Clark\u2019s WNBA arrival in 2024 fueled a charmed season for the Fever with record attendance, massive viewership and a return to the postseason for the first time in eight seasons. Her preseason quad injury this year was the first indicator that Indiana\u2019s next step into contention became more challenging than expected. Now, the Fever sit in eighth place in the WNBA standings, one game ahead of ninth-place Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Indiana did well to weather Clark\u2019s initial absence, bringing in fifth-year guard Aari McDonald to provide a different look at point guard with her downhill attacking and defensive peskiness. The Fever won the Commissioner\u2019s Cup title over Minnesota, the 2024 champ, and were riding a five-game winning streak even after Clark\u2019s injury recurred before their luck turned. First, McDonald and Sydney Colson suffered season-ending injuries<\/a> in the same game against Phoenix, completely depleting Indiana\u2019s point guard depth. Ten days later, veteran Sophie Cunningham hurt her knee<\/a> and was also ruled out for the season.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been dealt a crappy hand, but we gotta play it,\u201d coach Stephanie White said.<\/p>\n Clark has missed 15 straight games (25 total games this season) and has an uncertain timeline for a return from groin and ankle injuries. On Sunday, according to reports, she participated in shootaround<\/a> and warmups in Minnesota. But the Fever\u2019s push for the playoffs must start with stronger performances from the remaining four Fever starters: Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, Natasha Howard and Lexie Hull. Boston and Mitchell have retained their All-Star form \u2014 the Indiana staff even wore Mitchell MVP shirts to a recent game against the Lynx. Howard has been her most impactful defensively since her last All-Star season in New York, and Hull has been significantly better as a starter than off the bench, making nearly half of her 3s compared to 22 percent as a reserve.<\/p>\n Kelsey Mitchell against the Lynx. pic.twitter.com\/SuG2818IJL<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) August 25, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n However, Mitchell and Boston have sometimes been a little slow to get involved, like when Mitchell had four first-half points against the Sun or Boston had one field-goal attempt in the first half of Friday\u2019s game against Minnesota. They have to be more consistently aggressive early, because Indiana doesn\u2019t have enough in the reserves to play from behind.<\/p>\n The Fever have also had to navigate the waiver wire to replenish their backcourt rotation, setting a franchise record for players in a season with 17. Former All-Star Odyssey Sims, who spent the first part of the season with the Los Angeles Sparks, came aboard after McDonald and Colson went down. Sims teamed with Mitchell to rally Indiana from 21 down against Connecticut the day Cunningham was lost; her 19 points and seven assists paired with Mitchell\u2019s 38 in a must-win for the Fever.<\/p>\n More machinations were required after the Cunningham injury. Indiana had signed Kyra Lambert to her first WNBA contract but had to terminate it before the seven days were up as the team needed a veteran who could immediately play minutes. That veteran became Shey Peddy, who filled in for Sims in Los Angeles as a replacement player earlier in 2025 and had to do so again Friday, when Sims had to leave with a groin injury.<\/p>\n The Fever also added Aerial Powers as a little more insurance on the wing, where Hull is their only active player. Powers\u2019 appearance Sunday made her the 17th player to suit up for Indiana this season.<\/p>\n Aerial Powers knocks down the and-1 for her first points with the squad \ud83d\udc4a pic.twitter.com\/8o3SDdVaED<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) August 24, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n The Fever take on a different identity with their new additions. Neither Sims nor Peddy is a 3-point shooter of Cunningham\u2019s caliber (43.2 percent this season); both are below league-average for their careers, even if Peddy has been on fire in her first two games. That changes the spacing for the bigs, who have to work in tighter confines without Cunningham and eventually Clark pulling defenders out of the paint. As a result, Indiana is pulling Boston away from the basket to conduct the offense at the top of the key.<\/p>\n \u201cIt takes some pressure off of our guards,\u201d White said. \u201cMost post players are not going to hound one another 94 feet, so we\u2019re going to be able to get the ball across halfcourt in a timely manner to run our stuff. And she\u2019s a great decision maker and understands which actions to get us into.\u201d<\/p>\n It helps to get into half court offense more quickly, because Indiana\u2019s transition offense is severely lacking without Clark, and now without Cunningham. Clark delivered better outlet passes than just about anyone in the WNBA, and Cunningham filled the wings on the break to open the lane. Despite scoring 90 points against Minnesota on Friday, only four of them came in transition.<\/p>\n Defensively, Indiana has more talent, but it doesn\u2019t all fit together. Sims doesn\u2019t have the speed of McDonald at the point of attack, and without Colson, the Fever aren\u2019t able to pressure the ball as much. They\u2019re also lacking wing defenders, which has necessitated some creativity, such as using Brianna Turner in that spot, even though she has mostly played center in recent years.<\/p>\n Indiana likely needs to finish at .500 to assure itself a playoff spot, so at 19 wins, the Fever need three more. Their best opportunities will be against Chicago and Washington and probably Minnesota in the final game of the regular season, when the Lynx likely will have sewn up the No. 1 seed and can rest their starters.<\/p>\n Pivotal games remain against teams closest to Indiana in the standings: Seattle, Golden State and Los Angeles, each of which is within one game of the Fever. Indiana has swept the Storm thus far but is winless against the Valkyries and the Sparks. No tiebreakers are at stake, but with fewer than 10 games remaining in the regular season, the Fever need as many wins as possible.<\/p>\n Great take by Shey Peddy \ud83d\udc4c<\/p>\n She has 16 PTS so far!<\/p>\n IND-MIN | CBS pic.twitter.com\/izdt87pBe7<\/a><\/p>\n