Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark secure playoff spot and end the longest active postseason drought in WNBA history

Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever have officially secured a playoff spot.

Thanks to two losses elsewhere in the league, the Fever clinched a playoff spot on Tuesday night, officially putting the franchise in the postseason for the first time since 2016, the longest active playoff drought in WNBA history.

The Fever did not play on Tuesday but still managed to get in the race as both the Chicago Sky and Atlanta Dream lost. The Las Vegas Aces steamrolled the Sky 90-71 in Nevada thanks to a 30-point night from A’ja Wilson. The Dream also fell to the Phoenix Mercury 74-66 in Arizona. Both the Dream and Sky fell to a record of 11-22 this season, and the Fever have the head-to-head tiebreaker over both.

The Fever are the sixth team to clinch a playoff spot this season, joining the New York Liberty, Connecticut Sun, Minnesota Lynx, Seattle Storm and Las Vegas Aces. The Mercury also clinched a playoff spot with their win and Chicago’s loss in Las Vegas. Now there is only one playoff spot remaining.

The Fever have won four straight games since their 100-93 victory over the Dallas Wings on Sunday – their sixth win in seven games following the Olympic break. The win moved them to 17-16 on the season, putting them above .500 for the first time since 2019.

The Fever last made the playoffs in 2016, when they finished 17-17 and were eliminated in the first round. This postseason appearance was the franchise’s 12th consecutive and came four years after they won their first and only championship.

Clark is averaging 18.7 points, 8.4 assists (league-high) and 5.6 rebounds per game this season. The former Iowa Hawkeyes star had 31 points and a career-high 12 assists in a win over the Chicago Sky on Friday, making her the first player in league history to record 30 points and 12 assists in a game. Last week, she also broke the WNBA record for most three-pointers made. She is averaging three three-pointers per game, trailing only Dallas star Arike Ogunbowale’s 3.1 per game.

The Fever still have seven games left in the regular season, starting on Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Sparks.