The Indiana Fever are one win from the WNBA Finals after beating the Las Vegas Aces 90-83 in Game 4 of the WNBA Semifinals on Sunday.
That sentence alone was unthinkable to many WNBA fans when the team announced that star guard Caitlin Clark would not return to the court after dealing with multiple lower-body injuries that limited her to only playing 13 games this season.
Add in season-ending knee injuries to Sophie Cunningham, Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald, and the dramatic early-season waiving of off-season acquisition DeWanna Bonner. The team that had high expectations of success at the beginning of the season was suddenly forced to sign players to seven-day hardship contracts to have enough players to suit up for games.
But once the playoffs start, every team has a chance to win it all, and the injury-plagued Fever have made the most of theirs. They upset the Eastern Conference-leading Atlanta Dream in the first round and are now pushing the Aces — who enter the playoffs on a 16-game winning streak — to the absolute limit with a chance to go to the WNBA Finals on Tuesday.
The Fever’s late-season success has been built on the team’s adopted slogan, “We over me,” relying on teamwork and a multitude of role players to rise to the occasion when their team needs it the most.
In their win on Sunday, that player was guard Odyssey Sims, who joined the Fever midseason on a seven-day hardship contract. What was thought to be a mid-season Band-Aid fix ended up being a blessing in disguise. Sims scored a personal playoff high of 18 points in Games 2 and 4 and has been the team’s third leading scorer in this year’s playoffs.
Natasha Howard, one of the unsung heroes of the Fever’s season and an 11-season WNBA veteran, has started every game this season, providing a mix of inside scoring, rebounding and consistency the Fever desperately needed, as they dealt with a seemingly revolving door of players coming in and out of the lineup.
Along with the role players stepping up, the Fevers’ top stars have been just as impressive in filling the void left by their injured teammates.
Kelsey Mitchell — the former “sidekick” to Caitlin Clark in the Fever backcourt — has taken the mantle as the team’s go-to scorer and playmaker. She averaged a career-high 20 points per game in the regular season, earned a spot on the Associated Press All-WNBA First Team and currently averages the second most points in the WNBA playoffs.
Along with Mitchell, Fever forward Aliyah Boston has stepped up defensively, averaging the second-most rebounds in the W during the postseason while taking on the challenge of stopping the Aces superstar and the WNBA’s Most Valuable Player this season, center A’ja Wilson.
Whether it’s Sims providing much-needed guard scoring, Fever guard Lexie Hull diving for loose balls and playing tough defense on Vegas’ talented backcourt or the Fever’s two remaining stars elevating their games on both sides of the floor to new heights, this Fever team has dragged the star-studded Aces into a Game 5 winner-take-all in Sin City, with the winner set to face the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA Finals.
As is often the case in Las Vegas, the Fever are rolling into town playing with house money and nothing to lose. This team wasn’t supposed to be in a position to push for a WNBA championship after all their injuries and roster shake-ups.
But the Fever know how to win big games. They won the midseason Commissioner’s Cup without Clark back in July and delivered in win-or-go-home games — so anything can happen. If this Fever team can get to the WNBA Finals, they have both the experience and grit to win it all.