Rookie sensation Caitlin Clark isn’t concerning herself over which team the Indiana Fever may face in the first round of the 2024 WNBA playoffs.
According to Chloe Peterson of the Indianapolis Star, Clark said the following on Wednesday when asked which team she would prefer to go up against in the first round:
“I don’t have a preference, I think that would be kind of crazy. I think wherever we go, we go, you’d prep the same exact ways you would prep for anybody else, the same way we’ve prepped all season long. Obviously, there’s a little more on the line, but it’s basically going to be new for every single person in our franchise, minus a few players.”
Thursday marks the final day of the WNBA’s 2024 regular-season slate, and with a 20-19 record, the Fever are locked into the No. 6 seed regardless of their result against the Washington Mystics.
However, the No. 3 seed and the right to face Clark’s Fever in the first round remains up for grabs. The Connecticut Sun are currently third in the standings at 27-12, but the Las Vegas Aces are just one game behind at 26-13.
Should the Sun beat the Chicago Sky or the Aces lose to the Dallas Wings on Thursday, then Connecticut will be Indiana’s first-round opponent.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas will meet Indiana in the first round if it beats Dallas and Connecticut falls to Chicago.
Although Clark isn’t saying publicly that she wants to face a certain team, recent form suggests that Connecticut would be an easier matchup than Vegas.
While the Sun have a deep, balanced team with six players averaging between 10.4 and 15.1 points per game, they lack a superstar, and they are just 3-4 over their past seven games.
By comparison, the Aces have won four in a row and eight of their past nine, including back-to-back victories over Indiana on Sept. 11 and 13. Vegas is 4-0 against Indiana overall this season, while the Sun are 3-1 against the Fever.
However, the biggest thing separating the Aces from the Sun is superstar center A’ja Wilson, who is a two-time WNBA MVP and the runaway favorite to win a third this season thanks to averages of 26.9 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game.
The Aces also boast a few other 2024 WNBA All-Stars in Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray, plus they are the two-time defending WNBA champions.
As a result, the Aces would likely be huge favorites against the Fever in the first round, whereas Indiana would be considered more likely to pull off a more minor upset against Connecticut.
Regardless of what happens, Clark has orchestrated a massive turnaround for a Fever franchise that hadn’t posted a record of .500 or better or reached the playoffs since 2016, so simply making it to the postseason is considered a major step forward.
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