INDIANAPOLIS — Life with out Caitlin Clark was already going to be difficult for the Fever over the subsequent two weeks, as Wednesday’s loss to the Dream confirmed.
However the problem was amplified by a number of levels on Friday.
Sydney Colson, the one different level guard on the roster, left the sport within the first quarter with a left leg harm and didn’t return. After being pressured to recalibrate on the fly, the Fever then misplaced Sophie Cunningham, who had change into the de facto level guard within the absence of Clark and Colson, late within the fourth quarter as she reaggravated an ankle sprain from the preseason.
Whereas DeWanna Bonner led a spirited rally, the beforehand winless Solar held off the Fever to not solely choose up their first win of the season, however hand the Fever their fourth loss within the opening six video games.
“It’s laborious while you maintain dropping individuals,” Bonner stated postgame. “Such as you attempt to piece it collectively and we got here in with a one gameplan and you then lose your different level guard, so you bought to pivot on the fly and we’re a brand new workforce at that.
“We have been nonetheless making an attempt to determine after we had (Clark) and (Colson). Then you definitely lose these two items…like, you lose (Clark), we regroup. Then you definitely lose (Colson), then you need to regroup. So simply making an attempt to remain collectively and keep constructive and get by the storm proper now.”
That storm is creating tough waters for the Fever early within the yr. After beginning quick offensively towards the Solar, Indiana was dealt its first blow. Late within the first interval, Colson went down throughout a scramble for a free ball and needed to be helped off the court docket and into the locker room.
“I feel on the finish of the primary quarter into the second, it was like a intestine punch after which we needed to actually reconfigure what we have been doing on the offensive finish,” head coach Stephanie White stated postgame. “It affected us within the second quarter, little question, not having one other main ball handler.”
Whereas the Fever needed to take a by-committee strategy to ballhandling, Cunningham was the one pulled out of place probably the most. It was a battle because the Fever watched the Solar lead develop to as many as 15. By the point Cunningham went down after spraining her proper ankle once more, they nonetheless trailed by 9 factors.
Nonetheless, whereas Colson’s harm was a intestine punch, White stated Cunningham’s harm offered a spark to the end. Bonner was on the middle of it, flattening a trio of 3-pointers to present Indiana a 78-76 lead with 2:46 left.
The Solar, although, responded with back-to-back 3-pointers of their very own to revive a lead they might not relinquish. Indiana had one ultimate shot to win the sport late, however Kelsey Mitchell’s 3-pointer missed large, giving the Fever a third-straight loss.
“We got here collectively as a workforce,” Bonner stated of their fourth-quarter run, “and Steph stated like, ‘Keep collectively. We’re being examined proper now and we bought to rely on one another and use one another for vitality proper now.’ The worst factor you are able to do is crumble and go your separate methods at that time…However I feel greater than something, higher than a win, we nonetheless confirmed that we’re going to proceed to combat proper now.”
The Fever might want to maintain combating, as a result of the outlook is gloomy. Whereas White didn’t have an replace on both Colson or Cunningham postgame, each gamers needed to be helped off the ground, which isn’t an incredible signal for the fast future.
There stays the chance that an emergency hardship exemption may very well be granted if all of Colson, Cunningham and Clark are out as it could take the Fever under 10 accessible gamers, although that might start consuming into the very restricted cap house the workforce has.
Even in that state of affairs, the workforce can be welcoming a guard who is probably going not accustomed to the offense or the workforce. They would be the lone level guard on the roster, so how a lot they’ll depend on that participant for giant minutes would even be up within the air, too.
And that’s the best-case state of affairs.
“We bought to get inventive,” White stated. “We bought to determine who can get us into offense. We bought to determine what actions we will run and we’re going to should do the identical factor defensively, actually, and from a rotation standpoint. However that’s what we do. That’s our job, proper? Like we bought to determine it out. We’ve bought to get inventive on each ends of the ground.”
This additionally comes at a time when the Fever have been hoping to be racking up wins. Dealing with a four-game stretch towards the Mystics, Solar and Sky, groups that had a mixed two wins coming into the week, was imagined to be the prospect for the Fever to get issues proper in a brand new offense.
Now, after losses to Washington and Connecticut to kick off that stretch, it’s change into extra of a problem to simply survive and adapt.
“I imply it’s basketball,” Bonner stated. “These issues occur. Sadly, it’s taking place for us. It’s higher to occur now than afterward within the yr as a result of we’re nonetheless so early and we might nonetheless determine it out and modify to it…We’re simply going again (to the drafting board) to simply maintain beginning over on daily basis.”
As Bonner famous, the silver lining is that each one of that is coming in Could and never in September. Ideally, this can be an early problem that the Fever can study and develop from, which pays dividends later within the season. On the very least, it’s going to present a workforce with title aspirations an early check of their resolve.
“There’s no query we’re hitting adversity proper now,” White stated. “Prefer it’s difficult and it’s nonetheless an incredible alternative for us as a result of it’s not going to be excellent. It’s early sufficient within the season that we’ve bought an opportunity to essentially, I feel, discover a intestine verify second and who we’re going to be by adversity.”
