Due to injuries, the Indiana Fever have had an up-and-down season so far. Caitlin Clark has battled multiple injuries and opinions from the thinkpiece mafia, but the Fever keep going. They traveled to Minnesota to play the Lynx on July 1st in the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals without Clark, and still managed to defeat them.
The Fever went 4-1 in Commissioner’s Cup play, leading to a Finals berth. On June 3rd, they beat the Washington Mystics without Clark. Kelsey Mitchell led the way with 12 points while Lexie Hull added 14 and Aliyah Boston poured in 10. Then, they went to Chicago for an easy win against Angel Reese and the Sky, once again without Clark. Mitchell again led them with 17 points while Reese had four points.
Clark returned on June 14th against the New York Liberty and dropped 32 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds to beat the WNBA’s last unbeaten team at the time. Mitchell had 22 and Hull posted 14. For the Liberty, Sabrina Ionescu scored 34 and Brianna Stewart had 24, but it wasn’t enough to topple Indiana. With Clark, they were finally complete.
On June 17th against the Connecticut Sun, things got chippy. Jacy Sheldon thought it would be cute to play physically with Clark, but Marina Mabrey took it too far when she came into the scrum and tossed Clark to the floor. In typical WNBA fashion, neither player was ejected, and somehow, Clark got a technical foul. Late in the game, Sophie Cunningham saw a perfect opportunity to come to Clark’s defense when she took a hard foul on Sheldon, causing another scrum. The Fever won 88-71, and Cunningham got it back in blood.
In the championship game, the Fever upset the defending Commissioner’s Cup Champion Minnesota Lynx 74-59 without Clark, who is recovering from a groin Injury. Without Clark, Indiana dominated the Lynx. Natasha Howard had 16 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists on her way to tournament MVP. Boston added 12 points and 11 rebounds while Mitchell and Aari McDonald also scored 12 points. Cunningham scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench, and the Fever became the Commissioner’s Cup Champions.
After a lengthy celebration in Minnesota that included multiple hilarious clips from Sydney Colson’s Instagram live, the Fever are ready to win a real championship. Two days after the big tournament win, they put a beating on A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces. Love them or hate them, Caitlin Clark and her girls in Indiana are coming for the crown. They’ve already knocked off some of the league’s best this season.
Heading into the final stretch of the season, the Fever ranks second in the WNBA in three-point percentage. Clark hasn’t even caught fire yet. She has battled multiple injuries this season, but when she gets healthy, the WNBA is in big trouble. Indiana is playing great basketball as it is. Once they get one of the league’s best players back, things will get interesting. Some people are focused on “mebounds”, while others are focused on winning.
Indiana had fun celebrating their Commissioner’s Cup Championship while the rest of the league was sick over it. Nobody likes them and they know it, but they don’t care. DeWanna Bonner already left the team because she couldn’t handle the bright lights that came with playing next to Clark. Indiana is better off without her anyway. It gives Lexie Hull a chance to shine, and she has made the most of it. Watch out for the Fever.
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