Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The Indiana Fever are riding a strong 7-3 stretch heading into Wednesday's critical matchup against the Connecticut Sun.
- One key question looming over the game is the availability of the team's star guard, Caitlin Clark, who has been managing a persistent back issue all season.
- The Fever have shown resilience with and without their lead guard, but minute restrictions and late-game decisions could shape tonight's outcome.
The Indiana Fever have been up and down over the first half of the WNBA season, but appear to have turned the corner. They're 7-3 over their last 10 games, outscoring opponents by an average of 9.6 points per 100 possessions over that stretch — right up there with the best teams in the league.
They have one more test before the WNBA All-Star break, Wednesday night's matchup with the lowly Connecticut Sun. With a win tonight (and a loss by the Wings), they could jump up as high as the No. 4 seed and really carry forward some positive momentum. But the big question lingering over this game — and pretty much every Fever game this season — is whether Caitlin Clark will play.
Caitlin Clark is probable for tonight's matchup against the Sun
Clark is listed as probable in the official WNBA injury report, which is how she's been designated in pretty much every game since the league warned the Fever in May for leaving her off the injury report and then holding her out of a game.
So far this season, Clark has missed four games — mostly precautionary absences as she works through a nagging back issue. It's worth noting though that their concern seems to be ramping up. She's missed three of the Fever's last eight games and hasn't played more than 30 minutes since June 20, a span in which she's played seven games. The Fever have won all four of their games without Clark, and are 12-10 with her in the lineup.
Which her health and availability are lingering concern, she's avoided the kind of serious injuries like the ones that limited her to just 13 games last season. Clark's shooting percentages have bounced back, and she's averaging 20.7 points, 7.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game.
She is a participating in the upcoming WNBA All-Star Weekend but will get at least a little more rest around the event. Expect her to be under a similar minute restriction for tonight against the lowly Sun, and hopefully come out of All-Star Weekend ready to ramp up in preparation for the playoffs.
Projected Fever starting lineup with Caitlin Clark
STARTER | POSITION | BENCH |
|---|---|---|
Caitlin Clark | PG | Tyasha Harris |
Lexie Hull | SG | Raven Johnson |
Kelsey Mitchell | SF | Sophie Cunningham |
Monique Billings | PF | Myisha Hines-Allen |
Aliyah Boston | C | Makayla Timpson |
This starting five has been the Fever's most-played lineup this season but hasn't been particularly successful. They've outscored opponents by just 2.9 points per 100 possessions, which ranks 19th among the 29 WNBA lineups that have played at least 50 minutes together this season.
Where the Fever have really separated themselves from opponents is with their depth. They have eight different lineups that played at least 20 minutes together this season with a net rating of plus-20 per 100 possessions or more. The best of those is that starting group with Tyasha Harris swapped in for Clark, a lineup that's mostly been used when Clark has missed games this season. Five of the other seven top lineups feature two or more bench players.
This is not a knock on Clark but it speaks to how deep this roster is and how much the starting core is still figuring out how to best leverage her talents and tendencies alongside the interior dominance of Boston and the electric scoring of Mitchell.
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