On Thursday night, for the fourth time this season, the Indiana Fever played without their star, Caitlin Clark. And for the fourth time this season, the Fever came out victorious.
Spearheaded by Kelsey Mitchell’s 29-point outburst and game-winning layup with just 10.1 seconds left in the game, the Fever were able to hold off the Phoenix Mercury in a 92-89 victory on the road to improve to 13-9 on the season.
Going 4-0 without Clark is an impressive feat, considering Indiana are only 9-9 whenever Clark suits up to play. But does this small sample size indicate that the Fever can continue to rattle off wins and contend if Clark continues to miss time?
Let’s take a deep dive into the numbers of her last two injury-riddled seasons.
2025: Injuries pile up
Ahead of her sophomore season, Clark appeared in all 40 regular-season games during her rookie campaign, accounting for 22.6 percent of the team’s points and 41.3 percent of the team’s assists en route to the franchise’s first playoff appearance since 2016.
Between her time at Iowa and her rookie season, Clark played in 185 consecutive games. But on May 28, 2025, that long-running streak ended after she suffered a quad strain against the New York Liberty four day prior.
That would not be the only injury Clark faced that season.
After missing five games, Clark returned to the court, but just five games later, she suffered an injury to her left groin and missed another four games.
She returned July 9th, but then injured her right groin four games later and was later ruled out for the remainder of the season.
Out of the Fever’s 44 games during the 2025 season, Clark missed 31, and Indiana compiled a record of 16-15 in those contests.
Even with Clark missing time, the Fever remained competitive throughout their 24-win season and set a franchise record for total points (3,734) while shooting 45.6 percent from the field for the second season in a row.
On paper, the drop-offs without Clark were minimal. However, the deeper you go, the more significant the drop-offs become.
In the 13 games Clark played, the Fever averaged 4.1 more points per game and Clark accounted for 18.8 percent of the Fever’s points, 26.6 percent of their three-pointers made and a whopping 41.5 percent of their assists.
Despite playing only 13 games, she still finished third on the team in total assists.
While the Fever found ways to compensate for Clark’s absence on the scoring side, the numbers proved just how difficult it was to replicate her efficacy on offense.
Overall, the Fever were 6.2 points per 100 possessions better with Clark on the court and had a higher offensive rating (4.7) when she played, per Basketball Reference.
2026: Replacing Clark by committee
In their four victories without Clark, the Fever — at first glance — appear to be adjusting fine without their star guard. However, a closer look at the numbers once again highlights Clark’s significance to Indiana’s offense.
In the 18 games Clark has played, she has accounted for 22 percent of the team’s points and 37.8 percent of their assists. Per StatMuse, she currently has the second-highest usage rate in the WNBA (32.1) trailing only three-time MVP A’ja Wilson (33.2) while posting the ninth-best plus/minus in the league (+34).
Despite her injury woes, Clark still leads her team in total assists (142) and ranks second in field goals, three-pointers, free throws and total points scored.
The aforementioned Mitchell has taken on more of the scoring load when Clark sits, averaging 25.8 points in those games — 3.3 above her season average — while also increasing her assists from 2.9 to 4.3 per game.
She also shot 50.0 percent from three-point range, nearly nine percentage points higher than her season average.
Aliyah Boston also saw an increase in production, averaging 20.0 points per game without Clark, nearly three points higher than her season average (17.3).
Boston’s efficiency has also improved significantly, shooting 63.0 percent from the field — more than 12 percentage points better than her season average of 50.8 percent — while shooting nearly 18 percent better from beyond the arc.
Clark’s direct replacement, Tyasha Harris, has arguably absorbed the largest share of playmaking responsibilities.
In Clark’s absence, Harris increased her assists from 2.1 to 5.0 per game while nearly doubling her scoring average from 4.1 to 8.8 points per game.
However, that playmaking gap is also where Clark’s absence is most noticeable.
Clark currently averages 7.9 assists per game this season and in the four games she has missed, only one Fever player has matched or exceeded that number in a single game.
The Fever have proven they can take on a committee approach to make up for Clark’s production, but there isn’t a single player with the ability to replicate the entirety of Clark’s game – scoring, shooting and playmaking.
So, just how important is Caitlin Clark to Indiana’s success? The answer, it seems, lies somewhere between the two extremes.
The Fever can compete and win without her, but their ceiling is severely limited when she isn’t available.
Through Clark’s first three seasons in the WNBA, her numbers tell the same story: the Fever score more efficiently, create more offense and perform better overall when she’s on the court.
The Fever will hope to have Clark back on Sunday for their highly anticipated matchup with the Las Vegas Aces.
Tipoff for Sunday’s game is set for 9 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
