The Indiana Fever are playoff bound. On Tuesday night, both the Chicago Sky and Atlanta Dream lost, strengthening the group’s area in the WNBA postseason for the very first time given that 2016.
Indiana owns a 17-16 record and beings in the No. 6 area in the WNBA standings. The leading 8 groups in the league make a journey to the playoffs.
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) September 4, 2024
Even with back-to-back No. 1 chooses in Aliyah Boston (2023) and Caitlin Clark (2024 ), the year started rocky for the Fever. The group opened the year with a 1-8 record and seemed in shop for a long season.
As soon as the group’s chemistry started jelling, the Fever took off. That’s appeared in the post-Olympic break. Given that returning from a month-long layoff, Indiana has a 6-1 record and has actually scored a minimum of 90 points in 4 of those video games.
Clark has actually taken a bulk of the discussion with an astonishing novice season. The No. 1 general choice in the 2024 WNBA Draft is balancing a league-best 8.4 helps per video game to support 18.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per contest. She’s the frontrunner to win the league’s Rookie of the Year award.
Clark has actually gotten a lot of help, specifically from Kelsey Mitchell given that the end of the Olympic break. In the 7 video games considering that the return, Mitchell is balancing 26.7 points per video game and has actually set a Fever franchise record with 7 successive 20-point efficiencies.
Boston has actually likewise supplied a remarkable post existence for the Fever, balancing 13.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.0 helps per contest.
Clark, Mitchell and Boston were all chosen to the WNBA All-Star group previously this year. They’re measuring up to the buzz, particularly in the 2nd half of the season.
WNBA playoff format
The WNBA playoffs will start on Sunday, Sept. 22. For those unknown, here’s how the format works, per the Indiana Fever’s site.
“The leading 8 groups no matter conference will get approved for the playoffs and be seeded based upon their record. The very first playoff round follows a best-of-three format where the groups are seeded based upon their regular-season record. The first-round series video games will consist of a 2-1 format in which the greater seed will host Games 1 and 2 and the lower seed will host Game 3 if required.
“The semifinals and WNBA Finals will each function a best-of-five series following the 2-2-1 format with the greater seed hosting Games 1, 2 and 5, and the lower-seeded group will host Games 3 and 4 in their particular series.”