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Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever clinch WNBA playoff spot after 1-8 start

Vaseline September 4, 2024

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark is the favorite to win WNBA Rookie of the Year honors. File photo by Corey Sipkin/UPI

Sept. 4 (UPI) — Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, who started the season 1-8, are headed to the WNBA playoffs. The Fever, who were absent Tuesday, snapped a seven-year playoff drought that was tied for the longest in league history.

The Fever secured a spot in the playoffs after defeating the Chicago Sky and Atlanta Dream on Tuesday, while the Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury claimed victories, respectively.

The Fever (17-16) are sixth in the WNBA standings, with the Top 8 teams at the end of the season advancing to the postseason. They have seven games remaining in their regular-season schedule.

The 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 already secured a spot in the playoffs.

Sky and Dream, both 11-22, battle the Washington Mystics (10-23) for the final spot in the playoffs.

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark leads the WNBA in assists per game. File photo by Corey Sipkin/UPI

Clark’s arrival — coupled with stellar performances from guard Kelsey Mitchell and forward Aliyah Boston — helped transform the Fever from cellar-dwellers in the WNBA standings to postseason contenders. The Fever, who last had a winning season in 2015, went 13-27 in 2023. They were 5-31 in 2022, 6-26 in 2021 and 6-16 in 2020.

They opened their 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 through the first 11 games of her WNBA career. She averaged 15.6 points and 6.4 assists but made just 35.7 percent of her shots in that span.

Rookie guard Caitlin Clark has been shooting much better since the Indiana Fever's 1-8 start to the season. File photo by Corey Sipkin/UPI — Rookie guard Caitlin Clark has been shooting much better since the Indiana Fever’s 1-8 start to the season. File photo by Corey Sipkin/UPI

Since then, she’s averaged 20.2 points and 9.2 assists while making 45.4 percent of her attempts. She’s averaging a rookie-best 18.7 points and a league-high 8.4 assists per game this season.

The Fever are averaging the third-most points (83.8) per game in the WNBA. They have the second-best shooting percentage (45.2) and allow a league-low 33.8 points per game in the paint.

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) is averaging 18.7 points per game this season. File photo by Corey Sipkin/UPI

The Charlotte Sting were the only other team to make the playoffs after starting the season with a 1-8 record. 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 Sparks (7-25) at 7 p.m. EDT Wednesday in Indianapolis. The WNBA regular season games will run through Sept. 19. The playoffs begin Sept. 22.