Kelsey Mitchell has become the perfect backcourt running mate with Caitlin Clark, and the two guards have led the Indiana Fever’s resurgence since the Olympic break. Now they have Indiana in the playoffs.
The team has won six of seven and is over .500 for the first time since June 13, 2019. The Fever, who improved to 17-16 with Sunday’s win over Dallas, had gone an WNBA-record 189 straight games without a winning record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Indiana clinched its first playoff appearance since 2016 when Chicago and Atlanta both lost Tuesday night. The Fever are sixth in the standings.
Mitchell is one of the few players left on the roster from the Fever’s lean years; she arrived in 2018 and hadn’t won more than 13 games in any season until this year.
“I know what the bottom feels like, and I don’t want to be there no more,” Mitchell said,
Mitchell has scored more than 20 points in all seven games since the nearly monthlong break for the Paris Games. She’s averaging 28.3 points over that span — second best in the league behind A’ja Wilson. Overall, Mitchell is having her best season scoring, averaging 19 points. She was Indiana’s leading scorer last season, when she averaged 18.2 points per game.
“I think Kelsey has been playing really good basketball. She only makes my life easier when you have that 1-2 combo in the backcourt,” Clark said. “It’s lot of fun for myself to play that way. I think we’re just playing up-tempo.”
Mitchell agrees and has been having fun playing with Clark, who leads the league in assists with 8.4 a game.
“I think that me and Caitlin, as well as our group, I think we just found a way,” Mitchell said. “I think our pace is kind of setting us apart from a lot of different teams. Because you like to get the ball up and down the court at such a high pace. And I think the way that we play, it just makes our games thrive even more.”
The Fever have six consecutive home games starting Wednesday against the last-place Los Angeles Sparks before the regular-season finale at Washington.
AP WNBA poll
New York remains in the top spot in this week’s AP WNBA power poll as the first four teams remain unchanged. Minnesota, Connecticut and Las Vegas were next atop the poll. Indiana moved up to fifth with Seattle sixth. Phoenix, Atlanta and Dallas were next. Chicago dropped to 10th with Washington and Los Angeles rounding out the poll.
Caitlin corner
Clark had another solid week, averaging 26.3 points, 9.7 assists and 4.3 rebounds to help the Fever win all three of their games. She’s still turning the ball over a bit too much, averaging 5.7 in the three victories, but the ball has been in her hands a lot. Clark also hit 13 3-pointers in those games, blowing past Rhyne Howard’s rookie record of 85 set in 2022. Indiana’s young star now has 98 on the season.
Rookie impact
Angel Reese became the WNBA’s single-season rebounding leader with eight games remaining. Chicago’s rookie finished with 17 points and 19 rebounds for her 24th double-double, a league rookie record. She has 418 rebounds for an average of 13.1 per game, with her total surpassing Sylvia Fowles’ record of 404 in 2018. The 6-foot-3 Reese also broke the record for offensive rebounds with 165, passing Yolanda Griffiths (162 in 2001).
Cloud suspended
Phoenix Mercury guard Natasha Cloud will sit out the team’s next game after accruing her seventh technical foul of the season in a loss to Las Vegas on Sunday. Under WNBA rules, a player or coach is automatically suspended without pay for one game upon receiving a seventh technical foul during the regular season. For every two additional technical fouls received during that season, the player or coach will be automatically suspended for an additional game.
Player of the week
Wilson had another impressive set of games to earn AP Player of the Week honors as the Aces star averaged 36.3 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks to help Las Vegas go 2-1. Indiana’s Mitchell also received votes.
Game of the week
Las Vegas at New York, Sunday. The Aces have been playing better lately and were fourth in the standings entering the week. They have a big trip upcoming with games at Connecticut and New York before finishing the trip with a pair games at Indiana.
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AP Sports Writer Schuyler Dixon contributed to this report.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
