Indiana Fever Face Fight for WNBA Playoff Position Before Caitlin Clark's Return

As of right now, the Fever would match up with the defending champion New York Liberty in the first round. However, there is still plenty of time for things to change in either direction.

Indiana is only 3 games behind New York, and 3.5 out of the second overall seed. Yet the Fever hold just a 2 game lead over the eighth seed and are 2.5 games up on ninth, a spot that would take them out of the playoffs altogether.

This makes the upcoming stretch of games before Caitlin Clark likely returns to the lineup of the utmost importance.

The Fever have 11 games remaining, with two coming up against the Washington Mystics and Connecticut Sun before facing the league-leading Minnesota Lynx in back-to-back contests.

If Clark's reintegration to practice does indeed come during the team's break next week, those Lynx contests and the following matchup with the Seattle Storm on August 26 seem like a realistic window for her to get back on the floor.

Fever Can't Give Up on Lofty 2025 WNBA Season Goals

While there may be some anxiety from fans around how tenuous the Fever's situation seems, the brightside remains that the team is still in position to capitalize on the 2025 WNBA season.

If one would have said before the year began that Clark would be saddled with injuries for the majority of the campaign, not to mention all the other obstacles the squad has faced, it could have reasonably been assumed that they'd be dead in the water.

Yet, in staying afloat, Indiana is remains poised to accomplish a satisfying conclusion.

It's hard to overstate what it would mean for the team to get a fully healthy Clark back into the fold. And it appears her return from injury is looming.

Therefore, the Fever simply need to avoid a free-fall in hopes of allowing Clark to come back for a WNBA playoff run. Indiana has been fighting to stay alive all season, and while the fight must go in, it remains a battle they can win.