The Indiana Fever Season Comes Down to Caitlin Clark
The Indiana Fever dropped a second game in a row to a team below them in the standings, falling to the Washington Mystics after coming up short against the Dallas Wings. However, this shouldn't be all that surprising.
The reality of the situation is that the Fever are simply ravaged by injuries and were only going to be able to stay afloat for so long, especially with the WNBA season seemingly adding weights around the team's ankles as it goes along.
Indiana is playing without a healthy point guard—not counting players who had to be added on the fly due to hardship contracts. The latter scenario did previously work out with Aari McDonald, whose season-ending injury was particularly crippling, but it's hard to ask for lightning to strike twice.
And all of the above only adds to the obvious, that Indiana's best player is still out of the lineup. It shouldn't have taken a genie to see that struggles would eventually find the Fever in the absence of Caitlin Clark.
Fever lose
— CC Report (Taylor's Version) (@cc22report) August 16, 2025
Crash out as much as you want and I'm sure y'all will
We've always said this team goes as far as Caitlin can take them
And she's been on the bench since the Cretaceous Period
Considering we have no active point guards with more than 5 days on the roster
I'm not…
The Fever have now fallen under .500 with Clark sidelined, with the void of the superstar point guard only becoming more glaring as the team tumbles in the bunched up WNBA standings—while attempting to jockey for playoff position.
Caitlin Clark's Return Is the Only Real Solution to the Fever's Struggles
Following the loss to the Mystics, Fever standout Sophie Cunningham issued a bit of a rallying cry.
Cunningham asserted her belief in the team. "Yeah, I just think that we've had some hard injuries this year. We've had some different lineups and roster spots. And to be frank, I don't think that anyone else around the league thinks that we can do it anymore," she said postgame.
"But I think that our group does. And I think that we just have to get that confidence back. When we're clicking, offensively, defensively, we're scary. And not a lot of teams can beat us, even with the roster that we have right now," Cunningham added.
That as she maintained the squad needs to rediscover a dog mentality.
It's a nice sentiment, but it's hard to imagine the undermanned squad can emerge from said struggles without the catalyst that Clark can provide.
Indiana really just need a healthy Caitlin back tbh..the Fever have grown as a team this season, evidenced by their wins this season they are just missing Thanos.
— Moreau Sports Media Prod Co. (@MoreauSportsCo) August 16, 2025
Save the soul society, Clark Kent!!
Clark has been on the bench for so long that it seems some have forgotten what her impact truly is.
No. 22 is a generational playmaker who gets picked up way up the floor by opposing defenses due to her gravity, and penchant for pulling from the logo. This makes things easier for everyone else around her. Even as a rookie, Clark was an unprecedented WNBA offensive engine, producing points (between her own buckets and assists) at a rate the league had never seen before.
So, of course she was going to be missed—despite any hot takes to the contrary.
carolyn peck cooked when she said “the fever are more dangerous without caitlin clark” bc they truly are in danger from playoff contention yesss🔥🔥🔥
— sydney (@cc22goddess) August 16, 2025
That's not to say Clark should rush back. Her overall health and coming back as strong as possible without risk for re-injury should remain a priority. However, it does appear that a potential return timeline is coming into focus.
And for the Fever, her return would be just what the doctor ordered.
Ryan Ruocco talking about Caitlin Clark’s injury recovery timeline during ESPN’s Fever vs Wings broadcast last night
— Grant Young (@GrvntYoung) August 13, 2025
He said August 22, 24, and 26 are all “potential return” games for CC pic.twitter.com/88ikpSgw2F
Indiana has stayed alive in the meantime. But the season will ultimately come down to Clark, which was always going to be the case.
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Robin Lundberg is a media veteran and hoops head who has spent the bulk of his career with iconic brands like Sports Illustrated and ESPN. His insights have also been featured on platforms such as Fox and CNN and he can currently be heard hosting shows for Sirius XM and on his popular YouTube channel. And now he brings his basketball expertise to Women's Fastbreak On SI and Indiana Fever On SI!
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