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Just a week ago, the Indiana Fever stared down yet another wave of setbacks after finally getting superstar guard Caitlin Clark back into the fold.
In just a couple of days, the team went from earning an impressive June 24 road win over the Seattle Storm to waiving marquee free agent forward DeWanna Bonner over an on-court “fit” issue on June 25, putting Clark back on ice with a new groin injury on June 26 and blowing a home lead to the struggling Los Angeles Sparks to fall to 7-8 on the season on the same day.
The loss amplified a lack of late-game resolve that had plagued the Fever even after Clark’s return. Indiana was talented, no doubt, but it struggled to maintain leads and weather adversity in crunch time. Losing Clark again and losing to the Sparks in the same day cemented that this Fever team just couldn’t catch a break.
However, in the last three games, the Fever seemed to have finally figured out how to survive and thrive with Clark on the bench. The team blew a lead against the Dallas Wings on June 27 only to regain it for a pivotal road win, stunned the Minnesota Lynx on the road in the Commissioner’s Cup final with a double-digit win on Tuesday night and finally broke a 16-game losing streak to the Las Vegas Aces at home on Thursday.
The Fever’s three-game win streak leaves them with a 9-8 record, the Commissioner’s Cup to add to the shelf, newfound rigor on defense and a boatload of confidence that it can dominate good teams without Clark in the lineup. It’s the kind of potentially season-altering stretch that could further ignite this team to its preseason expectations, especially once Clark gets healthy and can go back to drilling 3-pointers on the regular.
Beating the Lynx without Clark on the road for mid-season hardware felt like a turning point for the franchise, one that has put forth plenty of splashy highlights since Clark’s arrival but has yet to prove it can consistently win even with her on the court. The Fever’s 2025 season has been anything but consistent, but getting Clark back from injury feels like the last major domino to fall for this Indiana team to potentially click into place and establish itself among the WNBA’s upper echelon this season.
Clark’s superstar power keeps the Fever in the national conversation even when she’s not playing, but players like Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston, Natasha Howard, Lexie Hull, Aari McDonald, Sophie Cunningham and Sydney Colson are proving that life doesn’t have to be so bad without the franchise face on the court. McDonald’s ascent from hardship contract player to starting point guard when Clark is hurt has been a definite win for the franchise, especially considering the failed Bonner signing paved the way for McDonald’s rest-of-season deal.
Coach Stephanie White has put forth two coaching masterclasses in the last week against Minnesota and Las Vegas, two of the best-coached teams in the entire league. Her defensive scheme has smothered some of the best offenses, and her offensive game plan just looks so much sharper than it did a couple of weeks ago.
The team’s stellar home win over the New York Liberty in June showed how electric this team can be once Clark gets in a groove and starts annihilating defenses from beyond the arc. Perhaps even more impressively, the team’s Clark-less Commissioner’s Cup victory showed a stifling defense that can slow down the league’s best offenses. If the Fever can utterly dominate a team like the Lynx without Clark, what is the ceiling with her?
This is a fledgling dominance, as momentum in basketball can shift at a moment’s notice. Getting Clark back into the routine of things might take a game or two to really click, and the Fever could still use an additional post player to come off the bench with its open roster spot and added cap space from the Bonner release. This Fever team has gone through enough road bumps this season; overconfidence shouldn’t be an issue.
However, a week really has made all the difference for Indiana. The vibes were not great for the Fever the day after that Seattle win, but they’re through the roof after the Aces win. This Fever team is finally showing that it can live up to lofty expectations, even without Clark in the lineup. Once she gets back, Indiana might finally be ready to seize the historic moment that started once Clark put on her Fever jersey for the first time. Nothing is given, but the recent proof is more than enough to feel like something is in the water at Gainbridge.
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