With the regular season drawing to a close, the conversations around the MVP candidate are heating up. And the Indiana Fever has two of its players in the MVP debate: Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell. While some fans and analysts may disagree, Fever teammate Aliyah Boston believes both of them are leagues clear of the competition.
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“The numbers that they’re putting up, both C and Kels, I feel like it’s clear. I mean, teams guard them differently. They’re sending everyone, they’re throwing junk defenses. I mean, ball pressure is so different, and they still consistently put up these numbers. So I feel like there’s not really much of a campaign. I feel like when you just look at the numbers and you look at the way teams guard, it’s clear as day.
It’s hard to ignore the case Boston’s made at the media conference after the New York Liberty game posted to the Indiana Fever YouTube channel, considering the numbers that both Clark and Boston are putting up this season.
Clark is averaging 21.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game this season, and leads the league in assists. She boasts an offensive rating of 113.9 and contributes a staggering 42.2% of Indiana’s assists, as per WNBA advanced stats.
When Clark has missed game time this season, Kelsey Mitchell has flawlessly taken on the playmaking burden for this team. Mitchell is the leading scorer for Indiana with 24.6 ppg and is only second in the league in points per game, behind only A’ja Wilson, who is averaging 25.9 points.
Mitchell is perhaps even more lethal in scoring for Indiana, with an offensive rating of 116.7. She ranks fourth in the league in three-pointers made per game. Her high usage rate of 26.8% reflects her critical role for this Fever team.
Both Clark and Mitchell account for more than 45% of the points that Indiana has scored this season. They are perhaps the strongest backcourt pairing in the league.
However, this loss against the Liberty has exposed some tactical gaps in this Fever team. With the game tied at 100, the Fever could not hold on as the Liberty closed out the game in their favor (109-102). This was another game which the Fever lost despite scoring 100 or more points, extending their own all-time WNBA record in this category.
Indiana has often struggled against teams that rely on their physicality to stretch the Fever’s defense, often drawing them into tight plays and getting easy fouls. Coach Stephanie White will definitely look to address these issues in the coming weeks.
The Fever are now 2-2 in their brutal five-game road stretch in eight days. However, Indiana fans will hope that the big three of Clark, Boston, and Mitchell can get back to winning ways against the Chicago Sky on Sunday.