Handling the heat: How Fever are weathering storm in Caitlin Clark's absence

Losing arguably the best basketball player on the planet is never a reason to be optimistic. 

The Indiana Fever entered the season with high hopes in Caitlin Clark's second WNBA season, but a left quadriceps strain has sidelined her for at least two weeks.

It's forced the league to weather the storm in her absence and put the Fever in a precarious position early in the season.

Despite their star on the bench and a 1-2 record during that time, there have been subtle reasons for optimism in Indianapolis. Here are three takeaways from the past three games without Clark.

The Fever can still score

Losing a playmaker like Clark should be a detriment. She's averaging a team-high 19 points and a league-high 9.3 assists. However, in four games with Clark, the team averaged 88 points per game. In the three without her, it has averaged 81.6. It's a drop, but not as dramatic as one might expect. Indiana has also had three different leading scorers, proving there are multiple weapons available.

Positive defensive trends

On the other end, it hasn't been all roses for the Fever with or without Clark. The team has seen a slight uptick in opponent points per game from 78.8 in the first four games to 81.3 in the last three. 

The Fever have defended the three well in the last three games, holding opponents to 35 percent from deep, including a 1-of-10 showing against Washington Tuesday night. Indiana has also forced 16 turnovers per game compared to 13 in the first four games. Those are things to build on as the season progresses.

More help is on the way

Clark's return will surely invigorate the Fever, but the team has also dealt with additional injuries to the newly signed Sophie Cunningham (right ankle) and Sydney Colson (upper left leg). Head coach Stephanie White told reporters Sunday that the MRI scans were positive.

"I think we got good news from both of their MRIs, as good of news as you can get," White said to The Indianapolis Star about Cunningham and Colson’s scans. "And so right now, it's a day-to-day thing. We're looking forward to hopefully them returning at some point sooner rather than later, but at the same time, it's how each of them progresses in their rehab."

Have the past two weeks been perfect? Not at all, but it's been enough to keep the team afloat while Clark heals. There are still 37 games remaining and Clark may only miss one more game. There's still reason for optimism in Indy and Clark's return isn't the only reason why.