The WNBA Playoffs schedule is set, and so is the path of the Indiana Fever. On Sunday, Kaitlyn Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston and their team will face the Connecticut Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, in Game 1 of the postseason at 3 pm ET on ABC.
After a stellar campaign in which Clarke broke multiple records and helped the Fever make the playoffs for the first time since 2016, the question on many minds is now: How far can Clarke and Indiana go in the postseason?
If the second half of the regular season is any indication, the second round seems like a real possibility. And once the Fever get there, it’s all about matchups in the anything-can-happen postseason tournament.
The Fever went 9-5 after the Olympic break, winning five games in a row, including victories over playoff-bound teams like the Atlanta Dream and Indiana’s next opponent, the Sun. The Fever look like a new team after that time in late July and early August and have stepped up their game. Indiana leads the WNBA in field goal percentage (45.6), effective field goal percentage (52.3) and is second in total points scored. Simply put, there isn’t a team in the league that the Fever can’t keep up with offensively.
It’s a unit led by Clark, who has continued to attract new viewers to the WNBA this season with her stellar play. The 2024 regular season was the most-watched season ever on ESPN platforms, averaging 1.2 million viewers per game; the All-Star Game drew a record 3.4 million viewers; and the Sept. 11 game between the Fever and the Las Vegas Aces drew 678,000 viewers, making it the most-watched WNBA game ever on NBATV. Much of the data points to Clark for the increase in viewership and eyeballs in the WNBA, which is why Indiana vs. Connecticut is being shown on ABC on Sunday, while all other games are on ESPN. If you think the folks at Disney are backing the Fever, forgive them.
Clarke, of course, has reinforced the hype with his play.
She will likely win the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year Award and find herself voted onto the All-WNBA First Team, both of which would be well-deserved honors. Clark averaged 19.2 points and 5.7 rebounds along with 8.4 assists per game, leading the league this season. She also led the WNBA in 3-pointers made with 122, or 3.1 per game. For some perspective, consider that the great Sheryl Swoopes averaged 19.2 points per game only once in her 12 seasons in the WNBA and never posted more than 4.3 assists per game.
This assist statistic puts Clark in elite and special company. Only Ticha Penicheiro and Courtney Vandersloot have ever averaged eight dimes or more in the same season. And no player in WNBA history, which began in 1997, has ever recorded per-game averages of at least 19 points and eight assists in the same year.
But there’s more to the Fever’s chances of potentially making the playoffs than just Clark. In the second half of the season, her teammates have played brilliantly. Remember, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston were both All-Stars alongside Clark. Mitchell is averaging 19.6 points per game this season and scored 30 points in Sunday’s win over the Dallas Wings. Boston is averaging 14.1 points and 9.1 boards per game and has shown that—in addition to being a defensive anchor for the Fever—she can also score a lot, like when she scored 30 points in a win over the Dream on Sept. 8.
The game that gives a hint of things to come for the Fever is their win over the Sun on August 28, in which five Indiana players scored in double figures for a balanced scoring attack that led to an 84-80 win. Lexie Hull was key in that game for Indiana, making four 3-pointers.
If the Fever gets past the Sun in the first round, they could hit their ceiling. Since the Olympic break, Indiana is 0-2 against the second-seeded Minnesota Lynx, with two double-digit losses, and the Fever is 0-4 this year against the two-time defending champions, the Aces. Before the break, Indiana was 1-3 against the top-seeded New York Liberty.
But if the WNBA postseason is anything like March Madness, we know the destination has no limits with Clark at the helm.
