Caitlin Clark and the Fever are playing with joy, and that’s bad news for the rest of the WNBA

Remember when the Indiana Fever were the worst team in the league and Caitlin Clark looked like she was headed for a really difficult rookie season?

me too.

The Fever started the season 1-8 and seemed destined for another lottery appearance, and in the beginning it felt like Indiana was getting beaten badly every night. two 36 Points Loss of Libertyhistorically awful defense, and a rotation that just doesn't make sense.

But all great things take time to come to fruition. this This version of the Indiana Fever has been worth the wait. The Fever have won three straight games and are 13-6 in their last 19 games. They are currently the No. 6 seed and have a .500 winning percentage for the first time since 2016.

“I'm happy to be at .500 right now,” Fever coach Christy Sides said after the team's blowout win over the Chicago Sky on Friday. “It's been a really long time since the Fever team has been at .500, so I'm really proud of that and how far we've come since the start.”

Caitlin Clark scored a career-high 31 points and Kelsey Mitchell continued her stellar play. The road win in Chicago came just two days after a close win over the veteran Connecticut Sun, in which Mitchell led the team with 23 points.

“To me, the maturity and the toughness that the guys showed tonight was just incredible,” Said said after Wednesday's win over the Sun. “We've seen them grow, from when they started to where they are now.”

Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell have become the best backcourt in the WNBA

There's no other way to say it, but Caitlin Clark has been great lately. Over the last 10 games, she's the league's third-leading scorer. WNBADuring that time, he averaged 23.4 points and shot 46.3% from the field, and also averaged 10.2 assists per game, the highest in the league.

Meanwhile, Clark's backcourt mate, Kelsey Mitchell, more She's on a roll, being the league's fourth-leading scorer over the past 10 games, averaging 22.8 points on an astounding 51.5% shooting percentage. She's scored 20 or more points in six consecutive games, setting a franchise record.

The only players to outscore Clark and Mitchell in that span are A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart, two of the all-time greats who each won two MVP trophies.

It hasn't always been smooth sailing for Kelsey Mitchell, but Christy Sides praised her leadership and locker room presence. Mitchell is in her seventh season with Indiana, but has never made the playoffs, or even come close.

“Kelsey Mitchell is the most amazing professional athlete I've ever met,” Sides said. “She may not always be happy about certain things, but she shows up every single day.”

This year, her veteran presence and consistent scoring ability have had a big impact on the younger players.

“She's always on the sideline coaching us and talking to us and she's always been such a positive voice and so supportive, especially for me being a rookie who just came here,” Clark said, “And for me, coming as a rookie and being able to play with someone who's just so great to this organization, it just makes you feel so welcomed. So I feel so lucky and blessed because I know for a rookie, that's not always the situation so I'm very grateful.”

Lexie Halle and Aaliyah Boston also star.

When a team makes a comeback like the Fever, it's usually not just the result of two strong players. Lexi Hull, who was barely in the rotation early in the season, has had a surprising midseason run. 17 of his last 24 3-point attemptsyou can always count on him diving on the floor to pick up a loose ball or making a key defensive stop.

“When her turn came, Lexi was focused and ready to go,” Sides said after the win over the Sun. “She did everything we needed to do to help us win and be successful.”

And then there's Aliyah Boston, last year's unanimous Rookie of the Year. Over the season's final 10 games, Boston averaged 13.6 points and shot 54.1 percent from the field, drawing defenders to create opportunities for her star teammates. She held Suns All-Star center Breonna Jones to just two points on Wednesday, as well as helping to limit Sky frontcourt members Camila Cardoso (1-for-4 field goals, 6 points) and Angel Reese (4-for-9 field goals, 10 points).

“AB is a dominant post player that loosens everything up on the outside, because if we touch her, they're going to get crushed by her,” Sides said. “If they don't touch, that's great. That's great for her and that's great for us.”

Photo: Michael Hickey/Getty Images

Can the Fever compete for the championship?

The Fever have gone from hoping to avoid being the worst team in the league to the sixth seed in just a few months, owning the second-best record in the league (7-3) over their last 10 games, tied with the Minnesota Lynx, and the best goal differential over their last five games.

A championship may still be elusive, but the Fever have racked up some meaningful wins in that time and shown that Indiana has different players who can perform at different times.

Following the win against the Sun, who came into the match as the second-best team in the league, Lexi Hull made it clear that her team's confidence was boundless.

“We take every game one at a time. Some people might think this game was a no-go for us because of tonight's win, but we came into the game really motivated, really excited and believing we could win,” Hull said. “I'm really proud of the way our team stayed together through four quarters.”

This improvement was undeniable even to the toughest of opponents.

“They're a lot more experienced now, they're playing harder, they're more comfortable,” Alyssa Thomas said after the Suns' first loss of the season to the Fever.

The offensive team has developed, the defense has improved and Mitchell and Clark have learned to play together at a faster pace, but perhaps more important to the Fever's long-term success, they are playing with an entirely different emotion: joy.

“Joy was something we didn't find much of at the beginning,” Sides said. “I've preached from the beginning that it's important to enjoy the game. Having joy is very important. When we won two games after the Olympic break, it changed the atmosphere. What we were talking about was that joy and excitement brought a new atmosphere to the team.”

Anyone who has watched a Fever basketball game can see that, and the only question that remains is how far that joy will take them.