Caitlin Clark is a narrative machine. The Indiana Fever superstar has driven WNBA discourse like few before her; even during a season in which injuries have cost her 50 percent of her team’s games, Clark still is at the epicenter of WNBA conversation and viewer attention.
As groin and quadriceps injuries have affected Clark’s availability in 2025, a Fever team that was built to suit her strengths — playmaking and long-range shooting — has had to find different ways to win. It has been a bit of a headache for head coach Stephanie White, but Indiana won the Commissioner’s Cup on July 1 and has a 14-12 record entering Wednesday night’s home game against the Phoenix Mercury.
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One of the narratives surrounding the Clark-less Fever is the idea that Indiana’s offense has been less effective without her. The Fever’s All-Star center Aliyah Boston took aim at this perception in conversation with WNBA legend Candace Parker on their new “Post Moves” podcast.
“When you have Caitlin on the floor, everything is automatically spaced,” Boston said. “Defenses are heightened because when she comes across half court, you can set an early drag, and there’s a deep three going up, and there’s a great chance she’s making it.”
The Fever has an 8-5 record when Clark plays, and a 7-7 mark when she does not. Clark is continuing to nurse a right groin injury that will jeep her sidelined against the Mercury, a physical malady that was not part of Indiana’s plan when top executive Lin Dunn was building the roster last spring.
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But Boston, currently averaging a career-best 15.4 points per game, told Parker that the Fever have “figured out” another way to play, built around Kelsey Mitchell‘s downhill acceleration and the reliable three-point shooting of players like Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull.
To that point, Indiana has the WNBA’s third-best offensive rating and fourth-highest net rating entering play Thursday, even though the explosive Clark will miss her 15th game of the season.
“For us it’s about making sure we get to that second side, that third side,” Boston explained. “It definitely shrinks the floor a little bit, but I think we’ve figured out different ways to score the ball.”
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