Caitlin Clark of Fever on playing with Kelsey Mitchell
The Fever are 6-1 after the Olympic break because Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell play so well together
INDIANAPOLIS – After eight years, the Indiana Fever are close to ending the longest active playoff drought in WNBA history.
Indiana, which hasn’t been in the playoffs since 2016, could secure a playoff spot as early as Tuesday night. The Fever would be the sixth team to secure a playoff spot, along with New York, Connecticut, Minnesota, Seattle and Las Vegas.
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“That would be huge,” Fever forward NaLyssa Smith said of the opportunity to secure a playoff spot on Tuesday. “It’s something the program hasn’t done in a long time, so it’s just great to be a part of it.”
For the Fever to be in the game tonight, however, two games must go in their favor: Chicago must lose to Las Vegas and Atlanta must lose to Phoenix. Both games are away games on the West Coast and start at 10 p.m. EST.
The Fever have won four games in a row and six of seven since returning from the Olympic break.
How Indiana Fever can secure a spot in the WNBA playoffs
Indiana is 17-16 with seven games remaining, meaning they can go 17-23 at best, which puts them ahead of Los Angeles, which has 25 losses.
After that, it depends on who plays against whom for the rest of the season.
Both Chicago and Atlanta are 11-21 heading into tonight’s games. If Chicago (at Las Vegas) and Atlanta (at Phoenix) both lose tonight, the best they can finish at is 18-22. However, the two teams will play each other again, so one of them would have at least 23 losses. Indiana has the edge in the head-to-head comparison.
The Washington Mystics are 9-23, so the best they could get is 17-23. The Fever and Mystics play each other again in the final game of the regular season, so if Washington wins that one, the teams would be tied 2-2 head-to-head. But Indiana would win the second tiebreaker, which is a conference record. The worst Indiana could get would be 10-10 in the Eastern Conference, while Washington already has 11 losses in the conference. Washington also plays Atlanta and Chicago again each, so a Washington win in those games would give Indiana an edge.
Dallas, also 9-23, is in a similar situation; the best result they could get would be 17-23. A Dallas win would put the Wings in a head-to-head matchup with Indiana, as the two teams will face each other once more this season; however, Dallas also plays Washington, Chicago and Atlanta once again.
So even if Dallas were to miraculously overtake the Fever in the standings, it would be at the expense of another team missing the playoffs.
Of course, this all depends on whether both Atlanta and Chicago lose on Tuesday night. If either of them wins, the situation changes to Indiana needing a win over Los Angeles on Wednesday to secure the win. If both Chicago and Atlanta win, the Fever will have to wait a little longer.
What is Indiana Fever’s record?
The Fever are 17-16 and above .500 for the first time since 2019.
