Sun Rookie Explains Desire to 'Exploit' Fever Without Caitlin Clark

With their May 30 loss against the Connecticut Sun (who were 0-5 just one day ago), the Indiana Fever are now 2-4 on the 2025 WNBA season and have lost three consecutive contests.

When news broke on May 26 that star guard Caitlin Clark would be missing at least two weeks with a left quad strain, it was clear that the Fever would be a worse team without her. However, given the team's objectively easy schedule during the four games she was sure to miss, many believed the Fever would be able to at least tread water in her absence.

That is clearly not the case. Indiana looks hapless on offense, completely devoid of a transition attack and unable to conjure up any cohesion. This is the Caitlin Clark Effect that Fever fans were never hoping they'd have to see.

After the same, Sun rookie Saniya Rivers (who finished the game with 12 points and 6 assists in 32 minutes played) got honest about Connecticut's game plan in facing a Clark-less Fever team.

"Obviously, we knew they were fresh off a loss, so we wanted to continue that streak," Rivers said, per an X post from Rob Tiongson. "We knew that Caitlin wasn't playing, and it's obviously a totally different team without Caitlin. So we really wanted to exploit that."