Indiana Fever recap: Without Caitlin Clark, they lose to Washington Mystics

Indianapolis Star

a day ago

The Indiana Fever learn life without Caitlin Clark is tough. Their offense has little flow in an 83-77 loss to the Washington Mystics.
Indiana's DeWanna Bonner scores 21 points and Kelsey Mitchell has 14, Natasha Howard 11 and Aliyah Boston 10. The Fever shoot below 40% from the field and 23.8% on 3-pointers.
Brittney Sykes has 21 points and 9 rebounds for Washington, while rookie Kiki Iriafen has 16 points and 8 rebounds. The Mystics have an 8-rebound advantage.
The Fever (2-3) host Connecticut (0-5) on Friday.
3 lessons: DeWanna Bonner gets going but Fever lose
The second-year star suffered a quad injury and is expected to miss at least three more games.
Chloe Peterson is your best Fever follow, and sign up for IndyStar's Fever newsletter.
It'll warm your heart: Indiana grandma's viral TikTok reaction to Caitlin Clark surprise yields VIP upgrade
3:55 left 4Q, Mystics 73, Fever 64: Washington is +8 in rebounds and the Fever are shooting 41.8% from the field, 4-of-18 on 3-pointers.
DeWanna Bonner gets inside and lays it in. pic.twitter.com/Dm9ac3Clph
6:57 left 4Q, Mystics 68, Fever 60: Washington scores in the open court on two straight possessions to build its biggest lead. Timeout, Indiana.
Kiki Iriafen adds 4 quick points, pushing the Mystics' lead to 8 in the 4Q 🔥IND-WAS | League Pass pic.twitter.com/XA0hSWolgc
End 3Q, Mystics 60, Fever 53: Kelsey Mitchell (12 points) and Aliyah Boston (7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocked shots) have become more aggressive for Indiana. Brittney Sykes (12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) has done the same for the Mystics. Washington's Lucy Olsen, who didn't play in the first half, has a couple of 3-pointers, giving it a 7-point lead.
Another triple for Kelsey Mitchell! It's a 5-point game in Baltimore 🍿IND-WAS | League Pass pic.twitter.com/d8eqWEaCXi
🗣️ LUUUUCCYYYYYYYY pic.twitter.com/HiJViDRB0u
4:52 left 3Q, Mystics 52, Fever 48: Aliyah Boston, who had 3 points at halftime, has two baskets early in the quarter. Kelsey Mitchell is 2-of-8 from the field.
Kelsey Mitchell with the rainbow TRIPLE! The Fever are pushing for that lead in the 3Q 👏IND-WAS | League Pass pic.twitter.com/qjFPcU7q0n
Natasha Howard and DeWanna Bonner are the only Fever players with more than one field goal. Shakira Austin has 13 points to lead the Mystics. Sonia Citron's and-1 with 1:01 left gives Washington a 42-39 lead.
Citron is reading the defense like a VET 🌟 https://t.co/7JowvwNf0n pic.twitter.com/UN4yKzF7yo
Damiris Dantas showing off that low-post pivot game 🌟IND-WAS | League Pass pic.twitter.com/llbk2ma2sW
2:41 left 2Q, Fever 35, Mystics 34: Natasha Howard has 10 points and 5 rebounds, and DeWanna Bonner has 9 points.
5:27 left 2Q, Fever 32, Mystics 29: Kelsey Mitchell gets an and-1 to put Indiana up by five, drawing Shakira Austin's second foul. Austin has 12 points off Washington's bench.
tough finish through contact from Kelsey Mitchell 💪 pic.twitter.com/XCf8mabeeZ
End 1Q, Fever 23, Mystics 19: DeWanna Bonner has 7 points and 2 rebounds off the bench.
DeWanna Bonner hesitates and gets to the hoop for two 💨 pic.twitter.com/CmHJb5Mt35
Emily Engstler's 3 gives Washington its first lead, 19-18, with 1 minute left.
3:17 left 1Q, Fever 12, Mystics 10: Washington starts 1-of-10 from the field but makes 3 straight. Shakira Austin has 6 points off the Mystics bench. Natasha Howard has 6 points for Indiana.
Natasha Howard takes the opening tip and scores 5 seconds in. Sydney Colson scores on the Fever's second play.
Natasha Howard scores off the opening tip ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/TcfFs3gKB5
Fever: Sydney Colson, Kelsey Mitchell, Lexie Hull, Natasha Howard, Aliyah Boston
Mystics: Sug Sutton, Brittney Sykes, Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen, Stefanie Dolson
Caitlin Clark is going to sit near the coaching staff to hear their conversations in the period she's out.White on how this injury could be an opportunity for CC to learn from a different perspective: pic.twitter.com/7eOQiXLpkD
Chloe Peterson, IndyStar: Fever 72-70
"With the news of Caitlin Clark's quad injury putting her out two weeks, this one has likely become much more of a toss-up than the Fever would like.
"The Mystics have impressed, relatively, to start the season. They had three top-6 picks in the draft in Sonia Citron (No. 3), Kiki Iriafen (No. 4) and Georgia Amoore (No. 6). Amoore suffered an ACL injury in training camp, but both Citron and Iriafen hit the ground running in the starting lineup. Iriafen has recorded four straight double-doubles, and Citron is averaging 15.4 points per game.
"The Mystics are 2-3, sure, but all of those losses have been close — including a three-point loss to Las Vegas, two-point loss to Golden State, and six-point loss to Phoenix. Washington also has wins over Atlanta and Connecticut.
"Indiana has a tight window to figure out new rotations without Clark, and there will likely be multiple adjustments to figure out who's running point. With the way the Mystics are playing, it really could go either way; but this is one the Fever need to win to stay on track, especially with Clark out."
Fever: Caitlin Clark (quad) is out. The Fever anticipate her missing two weeks.
Mystics: Georgia Amoore (ACL) is out.
Fever second-year guard Caitlin Clark is out with a left quadriceps injury. She dealt with a similar injury during preseason, but team officials say this one is different.
Fever coach Steph White added that she does not know the specific strain of Clark's injury. Based on her reevaluation timeline of two weeks, however, it is likely a Grade I or II strain. A Grade I strain is mild and only involves a small number of muscle fibers, according to the Physiotherapy and Sports Injuries Centre, and there is usually pain and tightness but no loss of function. It usually takes two weeks to recover from a Grade I strain. A Grade II strain is slightly more serious, where there would be some loss of function, and that typically takes 4-6 weeks for a full recovery.
In four games this season, Caitlin Clark averaged 19.0 points, 9.3 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals, making 31.4% of her 3-pointers.
TV: WTHR Channel 13, NBA TV
Radio: 93.5 and 107.5 FM in Indianapolis, with John Nolan (play-by-play) and Bria Goss (analysis).
via BetMGM
Favorite: Fever by 4.5 points
Over/under: 163.5 total points
Moneyline: Fever -185, Mystics +150
ESPN's matchup predictor gives the Fever a 58.9% chance of winning.
Fever-Mystics tickets start at $38 on StubHub