The Indiana Fever are playing well, having won eight of their past 12 games. Those wins include a huge home victory over the league-leading New York Liberty, and road wins over the Phoenix Mercury and Minnesota Lynx. Those three teams have a combined 48-16 record and currently are the Nos. 1, 4 and 6 seeds in the playoff race.
The Fever, who began the season 1-8, have battled back to 11-14, and as of Sunday they’re the No. 7 seed in the playoff race.
Two big reasons for the Fever’s turnaround have been 2024 No. 1 pick Caitlin Clark and 2023 No. 1 pick Aliyah Boston, who won WNBA Rookie of the Year. Despite Boston’s strong rookie season and standout career at South Carolina playing for the legendary Dawn Staley, her name just didn’t pop much until Clark arrived.
Boston Is Clark’s Wing Woman
When the Fever drafted Clark to team with Boston it was to form a dynamic duo capable of leading the franchise to deep playoff runs and hopefully more championships.
The franchise hasn’t had much success since winning their lone WNBA championship. In fact the Fever have only had one winning season (2015) and one .500 season (2016) since winning that title.
After a slow start this season the duo is finding its stride, and the chemistry on and off the court is obvious. In a recent interview, Clark raved about her relationship with Boston, who’s had her back since she arrived in April.
“I think AB is someone who’s always going to have her teammates’ back, whether it’s myself or anybody on the team,” Clark said. “She just wants the best for every single person. She’s such a positive light in our locker room.”
“She had a great voice, she’s always there, whether things are great or things aren’t as great. She’s just a very consistent person in our locker room. She’s been someone who’s been really helpful throughout my rookie year, having gone through it just a year ago,” Clark added.
Clark giving Boston her flowers is only right. Amidst Clark’s early season struggles, Boston was someone that always had a positive word for her and helped keep her head high.
Duo Leading The Way
Having a guard like Clark, who leads the league in assists (7.8) and points created has been a welcome sight for the Fever as a team, who only had Boston be named an All-Star last season, and that was more about each team having a representative.
This season they have three All-Stars, including Clark, Boston and dynamic scoring guard Kelsey Mitchell, who happens to be the team’s leading scorer (16.9 points per game) again this season.
Boston is leading the team in rebounding at 8.5 per game, and on Sunday all three played a huge role in the team’s second-biggest win of the season, a 81-74 road win at the 16-8 Minnesota Lynx.
In that game Mitchell went for a game-high 21 points, and Boston chipped in with a monster 17 points and 16 rebounds. Clark followed with 17 points and six assists, and forward NaLyssa Smith put in 11 points.
That’s their four top players, who all happen to be former top-2 picks, going for double figures.
In many ways it showed just how good this Fever team can be if they continue to grow, trust and get more comfortable with each other. And it all starts with Clark and Boston, whose pick and roll game is quickly becoming a go-to way of playing offense in NapTown.
