Caitlin Clark and Fever face ultimate test in showdown with WNBA-leading Lynx originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Indiana Fever and Minnesota Lynx enter Sunday’s nationally televised matchup with the best records in their respective conferences and the two highest-scoring offenses in the WNBA.
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The Indiana Fever have spent the past several weeks overwhelming opponents with an offense no team has been able to slow down. Now, Caitlin Clark and company will face their biggest test yet. Indiana visits the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday afternoon in a potential WNBA Finals preview featuring the top teams in the Eastern and Western conferences. The Fever enter at 19-10, while Minnesota owns the best record in the league at 24-6.
It is not only a meeting between two championship contenders. It is also a matchup between the two most productive offenses in the WNBA. Indiana leads the league with 96.4 points per game, while Minnesota ranks second at 92.2. The Las Vegas Aces are the next closest team at 91.4 points per contest.
With both teams carrying lengthy winning streaks into Target Center, Sunday’s matchup could provide one of the clearest pictures yet of where the WNBA championship race stands.
Fever offense is making WNBA history
Indiana has won five consecutive games and nine of its last 11, climbing to the top of the Eastern Conference in the process. The Fever have scored more than 100 points in every game during their current winning streak. According to the team, that is the longest streak of 100-point performances in WNBA history.
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Clark and Kelsey Mitchell have been at the center of that historic run. Mitchell averaged 27.2 points per game in July and has now scored at least 20 points in 13 consecutive games. That is tied for the second-longest such streak in league history.
Clark averaged 22.6 points and 7.5 assists in July before delivering another record-setting performance Friday against the Portland Fire. She finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, recording the fourth triple-double of her WNBA career.
The performance made Clark the fastest player in league history to reach four career triple-doubles.
Clark remains listed as probable for Sunday because of a back issue, but she has continued to play through the designation. Aliyah Boston is also probable with a right lower-leg injury. Reserve center Damiris Dantas, who did not travel on Indiana’s three-game road trip, remains out because of a left knee injury.
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Minnesota has won nine straight games
As impressive as Indiana’s rise has been, no team has been hotter than Minnesota. The Lynx have won nine consecutive games, the longest active streak in the WNBA, and hold a three-game advantage in the race for the league’s No. 1 seed.
Rookie guard Olivia Miles has immediately become one of the WNBA’s biggest stars. The second overall pick in the 2026 draft is averaging 19.4 points, 5.8 assists and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 49.2 percent from the field.
Miles is the favorite to win Rookie of the Year and has also played her way into the MVP conversation. She will now share the floor with Clark in one of the most anticipated guard matchups of the season.
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Minnesota’s depth, however, makes it especially difficult to defend.
Kayla McBride is averaging 18 points while shooting 40.5 percent from beyond the arc. Natasha Howard is contributing 15.6 points and 7.9 rebounds, while Courtney Williams is averaging 14.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists.
The Lynx recently became even more dangerous with the return of Napheesa Collier. After missing the first half of the season following surgery on both ankles, Collier has averaged 18.3 points and seven rebounds across her first three appearances.
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Fever vs. Lynx could be a WNBA Finals preview
Sunday marks the first of three regular-season meetings between Indiana and Minnesota. The teams will not see each other again until the final week of the regular season, when they play a home-and-home set. Minnesota visits Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sept. 22 before Indiana returns to Target Center on Sept. 24.
By that point, the playoff picture could be settled. Sunday’s game offers a much earlier opportunity for two title contenders to measure themselves against elite competition. Indiana has the league’s most explosive offense. Minnesota has the WNBA’s best record, longest winning streak and one of its deepest starting lineups.
Something has to give when the league’s two hottest teams meet.
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Fever vs. Lynx tips off at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, Aug. 2, from Target Center in Minneapolis. The game will air nationally on ABC.
