Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever clinch WNBA playoff spot after 1-8 start

Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, who started the season 1-8, are headed to the WNBA playoffs. The Fever, who were off Tuesday, snapped a seven-year playoff drought that tied for the longest in league history.

The Fever clinched the postseason placement because of losses by the Chicago Sky and Atlanta Dream on Tuesday, with the Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury earning those respective wins.

The Fever (17-16) sit in sixth place in the WNBA standings, with the Top 8 teams at the end of the season advancing to the postseason. They have seven games remaining on their regular-season schedule.

The league-leading New York Liberty (27-6), Connecticut Sun (24-9), Minnesota Lynx (24-9), Las Vegas Aces (21-12), Seattle Storm (20-13) and Mercury (17-17) also already clinched playoff spots.

The Sky and Dream -- both 11-22 -- are competing with the Washington Mystics (10-23) for the final playoff spot.

Clark's arrival -- paired with stellar performances from guard Kelsey Mitchell and forward Aliyah Boston -- helped the Fever morph from WNBA standings cellar-dweller to postseason contenders. The Fever, who last posted winning season in 2015, went 13-27 in 2023. They were 5-31 in 2022, 6-26 in 2021 and 6-16 in 2020.

They started their 2024 campaign with five-consecutive losses, but are 14-6 since June 13 and are 8-2 over their last 10 games. Clark showed signs of brilliance, but was inconsistent through the first 11 games of her WNBA career. She averaged 15.6 points and 6.4 assists, but made just 35.7% of her shots during that span.

Since then, she is averaging 20.2 points and 9.2 assists, while making 45.4% of her attempts. She is averaging a rookie-best 18.7 points and league-high 8.4 assists per game this season.

The Fever are averaging the third-most points (83.8) per game in the WNBA. They boast the second-best shooting percentage (45.2) and are allowing a league-low 33.8 points per game in the paint.

The Charlotte Sting were the only other team to make the playoffs after starting a season with a 1-8 record. The 2001 Sting won just one of their first 11 games before finishing 18-14 and making the WNBA Finals, where they lost to the Los Angeles Sparks.

The Fever will host the last-place Sparks (7-25) at 7 p.m. EDT Wednesday in Indianapolis. WNBA regular-season games will be held through Sept. 19. They playoffs will tip off Sept. 22.