Indiana Fever Dealt Unfortunate Blow After Chicago Sky Loss on Friday

As a result, the Fever have now dropped to seventh in the standings, with the Valkyries leapfrogging them into sixth. Had the Fever won, or the Valkyries lost, Indiana would have stayed in sixth place.

The Valkyries climbed past the Fever in the standings on the strength of a four-game winning streak, improving from 14-15 to 18-15 in less than a week. The Fever, meanwhile, have dropped four of their last five, doing little to help their own playoff push with Clark still sidelined due to a groin injury.

The Fever are now only 0.5 games back of the Valkyries in the standings. They also hold a 1.5-game lead over the Los Angeles Sparks (16-17) for seventh, who just defeated the Dallas Wings on Friday. The Seattle Storm could also jump to 17-17 with a win on Friday.

If the playoffs were to begin on Saturday, the Fever would match up against Brittney Griner and the Atlanta Dream (21-11) in the first round, while the Valkyries would face the defending champion New York Liberty.

Indiana has lost their two meetings with Golden State this season, giving the Valkyries the tiebreaker. Still, the Fever will have one more chance, facing the Valkyries for the final time of 2025 on August 31.