Without Caitlin Clark, the Fever must avoid spiraling. Here are 3 pieces of advice

New York Times

2 days ago

The Indiana Fever entered the 2025 season with championship hopes but measured expectations to start, given the significant personnel turnover from 2024. The process of integrating all of those moving parts (six new players and a new coaching staff) was further complicated with Caitlin Clark's injury just four games into the season.
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Even with an abundance of talent — four multi-time All-Stars — still active for the Fever, Wednesday's 83-77 loss to the Washington Mystics raises questions about Indiana's ability to stay afloat during Clark's absence.
The Fever announced Monday that Clark will miss a minimum of two weeks with a left quad injury, a stretch that includes games against the Connecticut Sun and rematches against the Mystics and Chicago Sky. The Sun and Sky are still winless, but the Mystics rematch should be challenging. And if Clark's injury lingers, Atlanta and New York await the Fever without her.
'No matter who we play, I think getting punched in the mouth early is kind of humbling, because it shows where you need to be,' Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell said after Wednesday's loss.
Despite the benefit of Clark's injury occurring so early in the season, the Fever (2-3) need to improve without their MVP candidate in the lineup before they lose too much ground. Here are three areas where they can concentrate:
Clark and Boston formed the WNBA's most dynamic pick-and-roll duo last season. Clark assisted Boston more than any other pair connected in the league (105 dimes), which doesn't account for all of the offense Boston generated out of the short roll when Clark was trapped by the defense beyond the 3-point line. Boston has become adept at reading defenses from the middle of the floor and generating shots for teammates with additional screens and handoffs.
That's why it was confusing to see how limited Boston's touches were against Washington. The Fever didn't get her the ball in the half court enough as a facilitator, but they also didn't use her enough as a screener, despite her effectiveness. On the first half-court possession of the game, Boston ran a handoff with Sydney Colson on the wing, springing her for a clean jumper at the free-throw line. She didn't touch the ball the next four possessions.
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When Boston got the ball on the perimeter midway through the first quarter, she threw a dart to a cutting Colson on the baseline, who then found Lexie Hull in the corner for a 3-pointer. Boston had another difficult cross-court pass from the post to Colson in the opposite corner, and Indiana eventually scored on an offensive rebound. Boston finished 4 of 5 from the field and tied with a team-high four assists, but the Fever needed more from her.
'Certainly she gets so many of her touches in the two-man game with Caitlin on the floor, and it looks different now,' coach Stephanie White said. '(It's) a point of contention to get her touches on the block as much as in the two-man.'
Aliyah Boston attacks for two 💪 pic.twitter.com/3utK0aXAiW
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) May 29, 2025
'They played really good defense on her, but that doesn't mean she can't come set screens,' Fever guard Sophie Cunningham added. 'It doesn't mean we can't find her on the opposite side, swinging the ball.'
The Mystics also made Boston work defensively, especially against Shakira Austin in isolation. Boston's five fouls weren't the reason she was uninvolved, but opponents will continue to try to get her in foul trouble to disrupt Indiana's offense.
In their last three games (excluding the opening day blowout against Chicago), the Fever conceded 86 points per game. That trend continued with 83 against Washington, despite the Mystics coming in with the league's fourth-worst offensive rating. Indiana hoped that replacing Clark with Colson at the point of attack would at least improve the defense even if the offense lagged, but that wasn't the case Wednesday.
The Fever suffered multiple defensive breakdowns, with defenders miscommunicating on pick-and-roll coverages, not knowing if they were supposed to be in the gaps or off ball, or failing to box out. Whatever the scheme was, it was impossible to tell if it would have worked against Washington, because Indiana wasn't executing.
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Two major sore spots on that end were fouls and transition defense. The Fever committed 26 personal fouls, more than their average of 22, which is third-worst in the WNBA. White noted that they kept bailing the Mystics out of tough shots by hacking them at the end of the play.
Indiana also struggled to match up in transition, a problem compounded by its 16 turnovers. White was especially peeved by Lucy Olsen's 3-pointer late in the third quarter when the Fever technically had enough players tracking back, but none closed out to Olsen on the perimeter.
Baltimore fans came to see a former Iowa guard to hit threes.
Lucy Olsen is giving them what they asked for
[image or embed]
— Tyler Byrum (@thetylerbyrum.bsky.social) May 28, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Although Washington was credited with only 10 transition points, those fast-break possessions led to offensive rebounds and additional scores, like in the first half, when Sonia Citron missed a 3-pointer, but Stefanie Dolson collected the board and found a trailing Kiki Iriafen for a layup. Indiana can't afford those breakdowns, especially when the Fever managed no fast-break points of their own.
Indiana stressed the importance of its depth leading into Wednesday's game. But without a central operating force on offense (especially when Boston wasn't used that way), the Fever's individual creators were mostly inefficient.
Mitchell said postgame she couldn't 'hit a rock in the ocean,' but it didn't help that most of her jumpers came in isolation as opposed to off the catch or off screens. Hull, whose cuts often result in layups thanks to Clark's pinpoint passing, had only one shot attempt in the paint. Natasha Howard at least made half of her shots (5 of 10) but turned over the ball five times, mostly while trying to maneuver to the basket.
After starting Colson, the Fever experimented with Hull and Cunningham as the primary initiator. Hull was decent at finding looks, especially for Mitchell, but having her on the ball eliminated the movement and chaos she generally creates off it. Cunningham couldn't really stand up to the ball pressure and committed an offensive foul on Jade Melbourne in the second quarter as she tried to clear out space to dribble.
Indiana doesn't have any other natural point guards other than Clark. Colson is technically a one but played that position sporadically in her last three seasons in Las Vegas due to their glut of ballhandlers. The Fever chose to keep two extra bigs on their roster (neither Brianna Turner nor Makayla Timpson played before garbage time) instead of another guard, a decision that was odd at the time and has aged poorly.
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That's a structural issue that can't be fixed. For now, Indiana has to win the hustle categories. It was outrebounded and lost points in the paint and in transition against Washington. In the absence of elite offensive creation, the Fever have to outwork opponents, a trait that will benefit them when Clark comes back.
(Photo of Kelsey Mitchell: Kenny Giarla / NBAE via Getty Images)