The WNBA playoff schedule has been decided, and the Indiana Fever’s route has been mapped out. On Sunday, Cailtin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston and others. The primary recreation of the playoffs shall be in opposition to the Connecticut Solar in Uncasville, Conn. at 3 p.m. ET.
After a stellar rookie season that noticed Clark break a number of data and assist the Fever attain the playoffs for the primary time since 2016, the query on many individuals’s minds is: How far can Clark and Indiana make it to the postseason?
If the second half of the common season is any indication, a second spherical does appear attainable. As soon as the frenzy arrives, all of it comes right down to a playoff recreation the place something can occur.
Think about that the Fever are 9-5 after the Olympic break, together with 5 straight wins and wins over playoff groups just like the Atlanta Dream and Indiana’s subsequent opponent, the Suns. After a break in late July and early August, the Fever appeared like a brand new staff and had improved their recreation. Indiana leads the WNBA in subject purpose share (45.6), efficient subject purpose share (52.3) and ranks second in complete factors. Merely put, there isn’t any staff within the league that the Fever cannot sustain with offensively.
This can be a staff led by Clark, who continues to attract new eyes to the WNBA this season together with her completely stellar play. The 2024 common season was probably the most watched season on the ESPN platform, with a median of 1.2 million viewers per recreation; the All-Star Recreation attracted a document 3.4 million viewers; on September 11, the Fever vs. A recreation between the Las Vegas Aces attracted 678,000 viewers, making it the most-watched WNBA recreation ever on NBATV. A lot of the WNBA’s elevated consideration and scores numbers level in Clark’s course, which is why Indiana’s recreation in opposition to Connecticut will get consideration from ABC on Sunday, whereas all different video games air on ESPN. When you discover Disney’s costume assist fandom, forgive them.
After all, Clark backed up that hype together with her efficiency.
She is going to probably win the WNBA Rookie of the Yr award and can probably be named to the WNBA All-Professional First Crew, each honors effectively deserved. Clark is averaging a league-leading 8.4 assists, 19.2 factors and 5.7 rebounds per recreation this season. She additionally leads the WNBA in three-pointers made with 122, averaging 3.1 per recreation. For some perspective, the good Sheryl Swoopes solely averaged greater than 19.2 factors per recreation as soon as in her 12 seasons within the WNBA and by no means averaged greater than 4.3 assists per recreation.
That help quantity places Clark among the many elite and unique. Solely Ticha Penicello and Courtney Vandersloot have averaged eight factors or extra in a season. No participant in WNBA historical past since 1997 has averaged no less than 19 factors and eight assists in the identical 12 months.
But it surely’s not simply Clark who makes the Fever a possible risk heading into the playoffs. Her teammates improved significantly within the second half of the season. Bear in mind, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston are All-Stars together with Clark. Mitchell is averaging 19.6 factors per recreation this season however scored 30 factors in Sunday’s win over the Dallas Wings. Boston is averaging 14.1 factors and 9.1 rebounds per recreation, displaying that along with being a defensive anchor for the Fever, she will be able to rating on a constant foundation, like when she scored 30 factors in a win over the Dream on Sept. 8.
The Aug. 28 recreation in opposition to the Suns may very well be an indication of the longer term for the Fever, a recreation through which 5 Indiana gamers scored in double figures and a balanced scoring assault led to an 84-80 victory. Lexi Hull performed a vital function for Indiana in that recreation, flattening 4 3-pointers.
If the Fever beat the Suns within the first spherical, they could hit their head in opposition to the ceiling. After the Olympics, Indiana went 0-2 in opposition to the second-seeded Minnesota Lynx and suffered two double-digit losses, whereas the Fever went 0-4 in opposition to the two-time defending champion Aces this 12 months. . Indiana defeated the top-seeded New York Liberty 1-3 earlier than halftime.
But when the WNBA playoffs are something like March Insanity, we all know that with Clark on the helm, the sky is the restrict for locations.
