The Indiana Fever lost to the Washington Mystics on Sunday after scoring just 77 points.
The Indiana Fever lead the WNBA in points per game. They average 96.7 points per contest.
That's why it was stunning to see what happened on Sunday (9/20) against the Washington Mystics.
The Fever scored only 77 points and shot 36.6% from the field against the Mystics at home. Washington defeated Indiana by a final score of 93-77 to improve to 26-16, while the Fever dropped to 27-15.
After the game, Indiana star guard Caitlin Clark spoke about the team's poor offensive showing.
"Sometimes, that's just how the game of basketball goes," Clark said. "It feels like we just couldn't throw it in the water. But at the same time, that might happen in the playoffs. So, figure it out. Find a way to win. I'm not sure we'll ever shoot it poorly the rest of the year like that. ... We've had the best offense in the league all year. It just didn't feel like us."
Clark had 25 points and five assists against the Mystics, but she shot just 6-of-20 from the field and 3-of-10 from beyond the arc. The All-Star also had five turnovers in 33 minutes.
The loss dropped the Fever a game behind the Atlanta Dream (28-14) for the No. 4 seed and 1½ back of the Las Vegas Aces (29-13) for the No. 3 seed.
"You would love to say, hopefully, this is just a fluke, and you throw it away," Clark said, "but at the same time, you've got to be able to learn from it. You've got to be able to assess it and figure out what went wrong. It just felt really flat. I felt like we looked tired. We looked like we just didn't have our spunk."
The Fever have two games left in the regular season. They face the Minnesota Lynx at home on 9/22 and play the Lynx again in Minnesota on 9/24.
Indiana must win both games.
Otherwise, Clark and Co. could drop to the No. 8 seed.
"Every one of these games that we're playing right now are like playoff games," Fever head coach Stephanie White said. "We've got to understand collectively that everything has to take it up a notch. Intensity level. Preparation. Knowing personnel on our scouting report.
"At this time of the year, it's not meant to be pretty basketball. It's meant to be gritty basketball, and I think we have to be open to understanding that that's the case. We got knocked in the mouth."
Clark and White just helped Team USA win the 2026 women's basketball World Cup.
Now, both women will have to dig deep to help the Fever go on a run in the 2026 WNBA playoffs.
