3 Indiana Fever bold predictions while Caitlin Clark is out injured

The post 3 Indiana Fever bold predictions while Caitlin Clark is out injured appeared first on ClutchPoints.

The Indiana Fever entered the 2025 WNBA season with championship aspirations. And with good reason. Indiana had an impressive offseason, adding a mixture of established veterans like DeWanna Bonner and younger producers like Sophie Cunningham. Adding these players around an already talented core of Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, and Aliyah Boston has transformed the plucky Fever into a contender almost overnight.

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Unfortunately, the Fever have encountered their first speed bump on their path to the postseason.

The Fever announced on Monday that superstar Caitlin Clark will miss at least two weeks with an injury to her left quad. This injury comes at an important inflection point early in the WNBA regular season.

Indiana is currently 2-2 through their first four games. The Fever started off strong, demolishing the Sky by more than 30 points in the season opener. However, every game after that has been much closer.

Indiana has already lost two incredibly close games with Clark leading the team. They almost completed a miraculous comeback against the Dream, but lost by one point. The Fever also played some great ball against the defending champions in the Liberty, but lost by two points.

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Naturally, that makes the idea of losing Clark a terrifying prospect for Fever fans.

But how will the Fever respond in a world without Caitlin Clark? Will they rise to the challenge and win some games, or crumble without their best player?

Below we will explore three Fever bold predictions for the next handful of games without Caitlin Clark.

Kelsey Mitchell will lead the Fever in points during Caitlin Clark’s absence

Kelsey Mitchell is sometimes the forgotten player on the Fever. Which is crazy considering how talented she is.

The two-time WNBA All-Star has been a dangerous player for the Fever ever since being drafted back in 2018. Mitchell is a consistent scorer, exceeding 17.5 points per game in every season going back to 2020.

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In some respects, predicting that Mitchell will benefit from Clark’s absence is kind of obvious.

Mitchell is often the runner up in scoring for the Fever because she can do it all. She is lethal when given space to operate behind the three-point line. Mitchell also has the quickness needed to punish opponents during transition plays or simply when knifing through the defense.

I believe that Mitchell will lead the Fever in points every game that Clark is absent. If she cannot pull that off, she will at least be the team’s leading scorer on average over the next handful of games.

Regardless, Mitchell will do whatever it takes to win games while Clark recovers from her quad injury.

Sydney Colson will post a career high in minutes per game

The Fever have already announced that Sydney Colson will start in place of Caitlin Clark on Wednesday.

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Colson is a grizzled veteran, entering the WNBA back in 2011. However, she has never played a significant starting role for any of her teams. In fact, Colson has only started 10 games during her long career in the W.

It should be no surprise that Colson has not had much of an impact in Indiana in the early stages of the 2025 season.

Through the first four games, Colson has scored only four points in 24 minutes on the court. That will change with Clark out of commission.

I don’t believe that Colson will be the full-time starter at point guard. She certainly will not play as many minutes as Clark does, especially with Sophie Cunningham coming off the bench.

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That said, I see Colson playing at least 15 minutes every game the Fever play without Clark.

This would beat Colson’s career average of 10.5 minutes per game by a healthy margin.

Indiana does not need Colson to become a superhero on the court. She simply needs to give the other starters an opportunity to rest throughout each game.

The Fever will win every game they play without Caitlin Clark

I had to save the boldest prediction for last.

The Fever are one of the more talented teams in the W, even without Clark. Therefore, it is not terribly bold to suggest that they will win a few games without their young superstar.

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However, I think it is pretty bold to predict that they will win every single game.

One reason why that is a bold prediction is because nobody knows exactly how long Clark will be on the bench.

If we use the estimate of two weeks, the Fever will play four games without her. They will play the Mystics twice, as well as one game each against the Sun and Sky.

Of course, the Fever could easily play more games without Clark if she is not ready to go after two weeks.

Simply put, winning in the WNBA is hard to do even when at full strength.

If the Fever do manage to win every game without Clark, it will prove that Indiana is truly a championship contender in 2025.

The first step is taking on the Mystics on Wednesday night.