After landing the No. 1 overall pick two years in a row after a period of trials and tribulations, the Indiana Fever are amid a turnaround this season and the success already seen is glaringly evident.
Infused with young talent in Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston, the Fever have themselves with arguably the best single-season turnaround from last year to this year in the WNBA.
Sitting at 11-15, the Fever went 10-7 following a 1-8 start. Their strong run has them as the No. 7 seed in the WNBA entering the Olympic break. That run and their current standings has ESPN predicting the Fever to make their first return to the WNBA playoffs since 2016.
The Fever have had a lot of bad luck — and a few bad decisions — with personnel and the draft since last making the postseason in 2016. But back-to-back No. 1 picks Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark have been home runs. We’ve seen strong growth from them individually — and from the Fever as a whole — since a challenging 1-8 start to the season. Another lottery pick in Kelsey Mitchell (No. 2 in 2018) now has enough talent around her to help her make a first playoff appearance. The Fever should benefit from the Olympic break too, especially with Clark — who has been playing nonstop since the start of her senior college season at Iowa — getting some rest. — Voepel
While Clark was snubbed from the US Olympic team despite putting up historic rookie numbers, this period of rest for her will be some of the most time off that she has had in over a year.
The Fever do not play again until August 16th and are holding onto a three-game lead over the first team currently out of the playoffs, the Atlanta Dream.
Five of the Fever’s 14 remaining games come against teams who are out of the playoff picture at the moment and should offer them a chance to secure wins and punch their ticket back to the WNBA playoffs in Caitlin Clark’s rookie year.
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