Caitlin Clark and Indiana Fever secure WNBA playoff spot after 1-8 start

The Fever (17-16) are sixth in the WNBA standings, with the top eight teams at the end of the season advancing to the postseason with seven regular-season games remaining.

League leaders New York Liberty (27-6), Connecticut Sun (24-9), Minnesota Lynx (24-9), Las Vegas Aces (21-12), Seattle Storm (20-13) and Mercury (17-17) have also secured playoff spots.

The Sky and Dream (both 11-22) are competing with the Washington Mystics (10-23) for the final playoff spot.

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Clark’s arrival — combined with outstanding performances from point guard Kelsey Mitchell and forward Aliyah Boston — helped the Fever transform from the bottom of the WNBA standings to a postseason contender. The Fever, which last won a season in 2015, was 13-27 in 2023. It was 5-31 in 2022, 6-26 in 2021 and 6-16 in 2020.

They opened the 2024 campaign with five straight losses but are 14-6 since June 13 and 8-2 in their last 10 games. Clark has shown signs of brilliance but has been inconsistent in the first 11 games of her WNBA career. She has averaged 15.6 points and 6.4 assists but has shot just 35.7 percent during that span.

Since then, she has averaged 20.2 points and 9.2 assists on 45.4 percent of her attempts. This season, she is averaging 18.7 points, the best among rookies, and 8.4 assists per game, the highest in the league.

The Fever are averaging the third-most points (83.8) per game in the WNBA. They boast the second-best shooting percentage (45.2) and are allowing 33.8 points per game inside the three-second zone, the lowest in the league.

The Charlotte Sting were the only other team to make the playoffs after starting the season 1–8. The 2001 Sting won just one of their first 11 games before finishing 18–14 and reaching the WNBA Finals, where they lost to the Los Angeles Sparks.

The Fever will host the last-place Sparks (7-25) at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday in Indianapolis. WNBA regular-season games will continue through Sept. 19. The playoffs begin Sept. 22.