Fever Update: Three All-Stars and a milestone

Can we already qualify the Indiana Fever’s All-Star trio of Aliyah Boston, Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell as a “Big 3”?

The Indiana Fever (8-13) aren’t necessarily on fire, but they’re becoming better and it’s a pleasure to watch a team that was making preventable mistakes now move the ball and score effectively. The defense still needs improvement, but the effort is finally there. Just look at the energy inside of the Fever locker room after the win over the Phoenix Mercury:

All-Stars abound

Aliyah Boston, Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell have made the 2024 WNBA All-Star team. You’d think that a team with three All-Stars would be at the top of the league or somewhere around it. The Fever, however, are at the ninth spot in the standings, with eight wins and 13 losses. After a rough start to the season, the Fever are playing much better. All-Star snubs aside, Indiana will have more players take the court in Phoenix than the Seattle Storm (13-6) and the same number as the New York Liberty (17-3), Connecticut Sun (16-4) and Mercury (10-10). Were the choices unjustified or unreasonable?

Clark is one the most marketable WNBA players ever, a ratings mover and somebody who gets fans into arenas. And beyond that, she’s an incredible player who completely validates the hype. Per Fever’s press release, we’ll let her stats speak for themselves:

Clark earned her first WNBA All-Star selection after averaging 16.2 points, 6.9 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 34.2 minutes per contest and has started in all 20 games this season. The 2024 No. 1 overall draft pick leads all rookies in points per game, assists per game, minutes per game, field goals made, 3-point field goals made and is third in the WNBA in assists per game. Clark won WNBA Rookie of the Month in May and already owns the franchise rookie-record for most assists in a debut season. In Clark’s 19th career game, she became the fastest player in WNBA history to record at least 300 points, 100 rebounds and 100 assists.

Aliyah Boston? She was the WNBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of June 10 to 16 and is one of the best bigs in the league. After blocking out the outside noise by temporarily quitting social media, she vastly improved her play and, more importantly, increased her intensity.

And then there’s Kelsey Mitchell…

Mitchell’s milestone

During the July 2 loss to the Las Vegas Aces, Mitchell made her 500th 3-pointer of her WNBA career. At age 28, the shooting guard joined the elite group of 18 pro ballers who’ve drained at least 500 3s in the W. This year, she’ll definitely move up to 17th on the all-time list, as it will take just 11 3s to take over Leilani Mitchell’s and Allie Quigley’s spots. Reaching Maya Moore’s 530, Renee Montgomery’s 532 and Ivory Latta’s 536 also is a possibility, which would mean Mitchell could finish the season 14th on the all-time list. At age 28, that’s quite an achievement, even for a player who was selected No. 2 overall in the 2018 WNBA Draft.

With her second All-Star appearance in a row, Mitchell is steadily building a Hall of Fame resume. Statistically, she has taken a slight step back, averaging two points fewer per game with reduced passing. But, she’s playing next to a world-class point guard in Clark, which has helped her score more efficiently than last season. For the second time in her career, she is making over 40 percent of her long-distance shots. Having her play next to Clark creates defensive issues for the Fever and puts a heavier burden on Kristy Wallace on that end, but they should be fine when they can outscore the opposing backcourt.

What’s next for the Fever?

We’ll see how far Indiana’s All-Stars can take them during the three-game homestand that begins this weekend and continues into next week. On Saturday, July 6, they host the Liberty (1 p.m. ET, CBS). Next Wednesday, July 10, the Washington Mystics come to town (12 p.m. ET, League Pass). Then, the Mercury visit on Friday, July 12 (7:30 p.m. ET, ION).

The gutsy win over the Mercury this week proved that the Fever are growing up and jelling. The loss against the Aces was predictable, if not inevitable, so let’s hope that Fever will get back on track during their next contests.