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Caitlin Clark: The Indiana Fever is a formidable team with Caitlin Clark on the floor. Without her, they may be even better.
Clark appeared in only 13 games during the 2025 WNBA season after battling a string of soft tissue injuries.
Despite her extended absence, Indiana still advanced to the league semifinals.
The Fever came within a single victory of reaching the Finals for the first time in 11 years.
Clark has been largely available in 2026, sitting out just two games while managing a lingering back issue.
Yet those two absences have produced arguably Indiana's strongest performances of the current season.
On Saturday, with Clark sidelined, the Fever dismantled the Los Angeles Sparks 111-87 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The 111-point output ranks as the team's second-highest scoring total of the season, trailing only the 113 points Indiana posted against the Toronto Tempo on June 16.
The Fever shot 55 percent from the field as a team and connected on 53 percent of their three-point attempts.
Meanwhile, Indiana held Los Angeles to just 43 percent shooting.
Four Fever players reached double figures, with All-WNBA guard Kelsey Mitchell leading the charge with 26 points.
The performance drew clear parallels to Indiana's earlier home victory over the Portland Fire — the only other game Clark sat out this season.
In that 90-73 win, the Fever limited Portland to under 44 percent shooting from the field and a mere 19 percent from beyond the arc.
Three Indiana players scored in double digits that night, with 21 of the team's 28 field goals assisted.
With Clark in the lineup this season, Indiana has operated as one of the WNBA's premier offensive units. Defensively, however, the Fever have been inconsistent.
The two games without the two-time All-Star tell a different story — one in which Indiana locked down opponents on both ends of the floor.
As the clock ticks toward Clark's maximum contract extension, the team's continued excellence in her absence is bound to fuel a broader conversation about her on-court impact — and what the Fever's ceiling truly looks like with or without her.
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