The Indiana Fever is underperforming as per pre-season expectations at 13-9 after 22 games. It may seem that whether they become a true challenger hinges on Clark’s fitness. However, the past two games, where they lost against the Sparks with Clark limited to 16 min, but pulled off a comeback win with Clark resting, have shown otherwise. Now The Athletic’s Sabrina Merchant has claimed that
“I’m not here to say that I think Aliyah is better than Caitlin. That’s not what I’m trying to say. But she does seem much more irreplaceable for Indiana than Caitlin,” Merchant started on ‘No Offseason’ with a disclaimer.
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“You can put some of the creation responsibilities on Kelsey Mitchell. You can run more of your offense through Aliyah Boston when Caitlin is not there.”
The Indiana Fever overcorrected this past offseason after Clark missed a majority of the 2025 season due to a groin injury. They added guard depth, including Raven Johnson and Tyasha Harris. Kelsey Mitchell remains one of the best guards in the league, pairing up with Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull, who provide perimeter support.
As per Merchant, Boston has sharpened her outside shooting and creative responsibilities. They no longer lose their momentum if Clark is not there. In the series-decider against Phoenix Mercury, Clark was resting, but the team still rallied from being 10 points down to win 92-89. However, the same can’t be said of the team in Boston’s absence.
“There is just no rim protection when Aliyah is not there,” Merchant further said. “Mo isn’t doing that. Myisha Hines-Allen isn’t doing that. They tried Grace VanSlooten, and I think she was a minus-eight in her first minute, which is an insane thing to think about from a plus-minus perspective.”
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The Indiana Fever are already last in the league with opponents scoring 89.7 points per game, as per ESPN. Remove Boston and their paint defense takes an even bigger hit. The Fever concede 0.5 points per possession with Boston on the court (4th lowest) and conceded 0.547 with Boston off the court (highest).
And that is expected, considering Boston is the tallest player on this Fever side. So, without Boston, the opponents get a straightforward solution to the Indiana Fever problem: attack the paint. Without Caitlin Clark, their outside threat is largely intact with other responsibilities redistributed.
“If Boston has any lingering absences, that would give me a lot of pause about what Indiana is able to accomplish during the regular season. I think they can kind of muddle their way through a Caitlin absence during the regular season.”
However, where the reporter truly thinks the Fever need Clark is during the playoffs. “I think their ceiling is limited in the playoffs without Caitlin. But I don’t even know how they win regular-season games without Boston.”
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That was apparent during the Fever’s playoff run last season. Caitlin Clark may have been the difference-maker against the Aces in their hard-fought semi-final series, which the Fever lost 3-2, and Vegas eventually claimed the championship.
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The post “More Irreplaceable For Indiana Than Caitlin”: WNBA Reporter’s Observation Suggests Fever Star’s Absence Isn’t the Locker Room’s Biggest Concern appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
