No team could weather the jolt that rocked the Indiana Fever. Both of their point guards in Aari McDonald and Sydney Colson, suffered season-ending injuries, and suddenly they were without a proper orchestrator. It’s like they were sent back to square one, building back up from two new additions in Odyssey Sims and Kyra Lambert. Both are still easing into the Fever system, but the potential return of Caitlin Clark is what is really keeping the hopes alive among the Indiana fandom.
However, Stephanie White and Co. are “putting no timetable on it.” Clark has missed 12 games, including the marquee clash against Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings. White’s point guard-less system broke down after a dominating win in Chicago, as Bueckers sliced through the Fever defense with 16 points and 8 assists. The Fever rallied in the fourth quarter, but Kelsey Mitchell’s potential game-winner bounced off the backboard as another loss dented their playoff hopes.
This scratchy performance received harsh criticism from a national analyst, who pointed to their disjointed offense as the bane. Tony East said on ‘Locked On Women’s Basketball’, “They are 0 for 7, I believe 0 for six, the Fever are this season when they have fewer than 17 assists in a game. They had 15 in this one. The Wings’ defense did a good job of kind of baiting the Fever into a little too much dribble dribble.”
They had 18 turnovers with 15 assists. It would hurt the Indiana Fever as assists are one of their problems while having CC on the roster. The point guard can dish out assists for fun. She can have dry spells from downtown, but the Fever can rely on her to be the hub of the offense. Clark knows just when to find the cutting Aliyah Boston or Sophie Cunningham. While she has her personal turnover problems, too, the team as a whole has averaged 14 turnovers per game this season without her and 13.4 with her.
At 8.8 assists per game, she is among the best creators in the league. Without a proper point guard who is fully gelled into this system, they are functioning like they could be. Even with Aari McDonald, she was a proper point guard who knew when to make that right pass. Their new signing in Odyssey Sims is a veteran, but she has absolutely no chemistry with her new teammates yet.
East continued with his criticism of this disconnected offense, “They weren’t getting through traps. They weren’t flowing very well on offense. A lot of clunky late-clock possessions. I just think they were executing poorly and not as connected as they were in previous games against Chicago, who is an awful offense.”
This was a predictable problem. The Fever was going to struggle with new point guards.“We’ll have to do it by committee, certainly,” White had said on playing without point guards. The assists were distributed around the team, but the creative poise of a proper point guard could not be matched against a very physical Dallas defense. They did not have to deal with this problem in their win against Sky, as they are the worst defense in the league, while being poor on offense, too.
They showed signs of improvement against the Mystics, getting 21 assists on the night. Even with that, they fell after a disappointing first quarter, mirroring their Dallas game. “We’ve got to be better and more locked in from the jump,” White had said after their Dallas game, but the same problems followed them against the Mystics. After these consecutive losses, the Fever might be slipping at the wrong time.
ESPN Analyst Concerned About Indiana Fever’s Playoff Aspirations
Clark fit or not, the Fever seemed to be cruising to the playoffs. Their other pieces were clicking. Kelsey Mitchell was on fire, shouldering the scoring and creative responsibilities. Aliyah Boston was dominating the paint. But losing two of their key players is proving just too much for White to handle. With a 1-4 skid in their last five, this ESPN writer fears the loaded Fever roster could crash out of the playoff picture, especially with some tough games coming up.
Michael Voepel wrote on Twitter, “With @IndianaFever dropping back-to-back home games vs. Dallas on Tuesday and Washington tonight, how concerned are Fever about potentially falling from playoff spot? Indiana is 18-16 now and in 7th place, but still has to face 1st-place Minnesota 3 times in the last 10 games.”
With @IndianaFever dropping back-to-back home games vs. Dallas on Tuesday and Washington tonight, how concerned are Fever about potentially falling from playoff spot? Indiana is 18-16 now and in 7th place, but still has to face 1st-place Minnesota 3 times in last 10 games.
— Michael Voepel (@MAVoepel) August 16, 2025
Let’s look at who is competing with the Fever for their spot. The Seattle Storm, who broke their losing streak against the Dream and could be back to their early-season title-contending form. The Los Angeles Sparks are surging with 7 wins in their last 10 games. The Washington Mystics have an outside chance to make it, but as evidenced by that win against the Fever, they are not making it easy. The Golden State Valkyries have always been around the playoff spots and are looking as solid as ever.
Adding to that, they face Lynx twice, Storm, and Sparks within their next five games. The answer for Indiana seems to be simple: Caitlin Clark’s return. When Clark returns, suddenly, many of their remaining games go from competitive to winnable. Kelsey Mitchell is doing great, but imagine what she could do with Clark back. The same goes for Aliyah Boston. Cunningham has had to adjust. All of those problems go away with Clark’s return. Currently, she is slated to return on August 22 according the ESPN, but they have been wrong before. We are still in the dark about when her actual return might be, but for Fever to overcome titans, they need their demigod.
The post Caitlin Clark’s Absence Echoes Strongly as Her Fever Teammates Show Signs Of Disconnect, Says Insider appeared first on EssentiallySports.