The WNBA playoff schedule has been determined, and the Indiana Fever's route has been mapped out. On Sunday, Cailtin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston and others. The first game of the playoffs will be against the Connecticut Sun in Uncasville, Conn. at 3 p.m. ET.
After a stellar rookie season that saw Clark break multiple records and help the Fever reach the playoffs for the first time since 2016, the question on many people's minds is: How far can Clark and Indiana go in the postseason?
If the second half of the regular season is any indication, a second round does seem possible. Once the frenzy arrives, it all comes down to a playoff game where anything can happen.
Consider that the Fever are 9-5 after the Olympic break, including five straight wins and wins over playoff teams like the Atlanta Dream and Indiana's next opponent, the Suns. After a break in late July and early August, the Fever looked like a new team and had improved their game. Indiana leads the WNBA in field goal percentage (45.6), effective field goal percentage (52.3) and ranks second in total points. Simply put, there is no team in the league that the Fever can't keep up with offensively.
This is a team led by Clark, who continues to draw new eyes to the WNBA this season with her absolutely stellar play. The 2024 regular season was the most watched season on the ESPN platform, with an average of 1.2 million viewers per game; the All-Star Game attracted a record 3.4 million viewers; on September 11, the Fever vs. A game between the Las Vegas Aces attracted 678,000 viewers, making it the most-watched WNBA game ever on NBATV. Much of the WNBA's increased attention and ratings numbers point in Clark's direction, which is why Indiana's game against Connecticut gets attention from ABC on Sunday, while all other games air on ESPN. Forgive me if you find Disney's costume support fandom.
Of course, Clark backed up that hype with her performance.
She will likely win the WNBA Rookie of the Year award and may be named to the WNBA All-Pro first team, both honors being well-deserved. Clark is averaging a league-leading 8.4 assists, 19.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game this season. She also leads the WNBA in three-pointers made with 122, averaging 3.1 per game. For some perspective, the great Sheryl Swoopes only averaged more than 19.2 points per game once in her 12 seasons in the WNBA and never averaged more than 4.3 assists per game.
That assist number puts Clark among the elite and exclusive. Only Ticha Penicello and Courtney Vandersloot have averaged eight points or more in a season. No player in WNBA history since 1997 has averaged at least 19 points and eight assists in the same year.
But it’s not just Clark who makes the Fever a potential threat heading into the playoffs. Her teammates improved greatly in the second half of the season. Remember, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston are All-Stars along with Clark. Mitchell is averaging 19.6 points per game this season but scored 30 points in Sunday's win over the Dallas Wings. Boston is averaging 14.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, showing that in addition to being a defensive anchor for the Fever, she can score on a consistent basis, like when she scored 30 points in a win over the Dream on Sept. 8.
The Aug. 28 game against the Suns could be a sign of the future for the Fever, a game in which five Indiana players scored in double figures and a balanced scoring attack led to an 84-80 victory. Lexi Hull played a crucial role for Indiana in that game, knocking down four 3-pointers.
If the Fever beat the Suns in the first round, they might hit their head against the ceiling. After the Olympics, Indiana went 0-2 against the second-seeded Minnesota Lynx and suffered two double-digit losses, while the Fever went 0-4 against the two-time defending champion Aces this year. . Indiana defeated the top-seeded New York Liberty 1-3 before halftime.
But if the WNBA playoffs are anything like March Madness, we know that with Clark at the helm, the sky's the limit.