This was not how Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever wanted to roll into the postseason. After dealing with injuries to several key players including Clark during last year’s postseason run to the WNBA semifinal, Indiana is facing more injury dilemmas as they prepare for a first-round playoff game on the road game against the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces on Sunday, Sept. 27, at Michelob Ultra Arena.
During Thursday’s 86-66 loss to the Minnesota Lynx, star center Aliyah Boston and backup guard Ty Harris both left the game with injuries. It was the worst possible scenario for the Fever, who will need a full roster to compete for a championship.
Boston, averaging 16 points and 8 boards a game, is the anchor of Indiana’s “Big Three.” Along with backcourt sensations Clark and Kelsey Mitchell, the Fever set a slew of WNBA scoring records while averaging roughly 96 points per game.
Fever head coach Stephanie White told NBA reporter Tony East that it was just a “flare-up” of an existing lower‑leg issue and she kept Boston out for precautionary reasons. She had no update on Ty Harris.
Who’s to say it doesn’t flare up again? With the defending champions and a rested A’ja Wilson on deck, the potential for the Fever to lose any key player for a significant amount of time had the WNBA world shook.
Dawn Staley, Fans Reaches Out To Injured Fever Players
Even Dawn Staley chimed in after Harris was carried off the court. Fans wondered if the injury curse from last season is rearing its ugly head again two days before go time.
Staley was among those who immediately reached out.
“Praying for you @TyHarris_52! Lord cover Ty right now!” the three-time NCAA Division 1 champion coach wrote.
“I hope she’s okay, that whole thing looked like it hurt,” one user commented with a broken heart emoji.
“OH MY GOD, HOSPITAL FEVER FOR PLAYOFFS AGAIN????” another WNBA observer added.
Some Fever fans questioned the decision of coach White to leave Boston on the floor when the game was out of reach.
“Why is AB even playing when you’re down 30+ pts? The whole coaching staff needs to be fired,” a Fever supporter complained.
“She shouldn’t have been in in the first place and same with Ty. None of our key players for the playoffs should’ve been playing. Dumb move by Steph,” another fan complained.
“Falling apart at the worst time,” one netizen predicted.
“Yeah Fever are cooked,” a fan commented on X.
“Fever finna be free eats for any team in the 1st round,” expressed one pessimist.
Did Indiana Fever Throw Game Against Lynx?
Some fans went as far as to suggest that the Fever threw the game for some reason. That’s kind of far-fetched, but it would justify for some Caitlin Clark fans why she shot 1 of 12 for the game and 0-for-7 from three-point range for two points in 17 minutes of action.
Kelsey Mitchell wasn’t much better, managing just 10 points on 3-for-12 shooting from the floor. It looked like nobody on the Fever wanted to play the final game of the season.
“Clark in on throwin da games nw?” one user commented.
“But I thought she was better than Angel Reese? Lmao. She got carried to a gold medal too..” a netizen quipped.
“The haters like the moment like this. Next..,” another CC fan shot back.
Another Clark supporter dismissed the game as irrelevant.
“Only in the WNBA does anybody give a sh-t about the meaningless game before the playoffs. And of course, nobody gives a sh-t unless CC is involved,”
Indiana Fever Don’t Look Ready To Be Champions
You can’t just snap your fingers and go from regular season mode to playoff mode. Indiana can’t say that this is the way they wanted to roll into the playoffs. Horrible shooting, barely trying to win, and losing key players in what amounts to a meaningless game.
Fever fans have several things they should be praying to the basketball gods for this evening. Clark has had rough shooting nights dating back to before the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup. The Fever need her to go on a heater as soon as the ball tips for Game 1. That will silence the haters and help her regain whatever confidence it seems she has lost.
Aliyah Boston has to be healthy or that changes the entire dynamic of the team. Monique Billings is a solid backup, but not a former No. 1 overall pick and four-time All-Star like AB.
Stephanie White also has to elevate her coaching to an All-Star level. Her substitutions and rotations have to be strategically elite. Emotionally she has to be in tune with her star players and allow them the freedom to go out and maximize their talents and win games. At this point, the players should have it figured out.
Without those aspects of the organization improving, they have no shot of beating A’ja Wilson and the gang.
