The Indiana Fever closed out their regular season with an ugly 86-66 loss to the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx on Thursday night, a result that also worsened their playoff draw.
Caitlin Clark had the worst game of her career, scoring just two points on 1-of-12 shooting in 18 minutes. She was 1-for-8 at halftime, when Indiana already trailed 62-32.
The loss means Indiana will open the playoffs against the defending champion Las Vegas Aces, led by MVP frontrunner A’ja Wilson. A win over Minnesota would have sent the Fever to face the Atlanta Dream instead.
The result was a sharp reversal from Tuesday, when Indiana beat the Lynx at home and at one point handed Minnesota its largest deficit of the season. Minnesota was again without rookie Olivia Miles, sidelined by a calf injury for a second straight game, and rested its starters for much of the second half of Tuesday’s win. Indiana appeared to do the same on Thursday once the deficit reached 30 points in the third quarter, limiting Clark’s minutes and holding Sophie Cunningham scoreless across 16 minutes.
Clark entered the game needing just 11 points to become the first WNBA player to reach 900 points and 300 assists in a single season. She fell well short, finishing with two points, three assists and four rebounds.
The night got worse for Indiana when starting center Aliyah Boston was ruled out with a right lower leg injury, and guard Ty Harris had to be carried off the court.
There was one bright spot: Kelsey Mitchell set a new single-season three-point record, hitting her 135th of the year to surpass Rhyne Howard’s mark of 134. Mitchell led the Fever with 10 points, though the game ended her streak of 27 straight games scoring 20 or more points.
Indiana finishes the regular season at 28-15. The WNBA playoffs begin Sunday.
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