In a way, the Indiana Fever were the pumpkin coach-riding Cinderella of the 2025 WNBA Playoffs. On paper, the Fever had the stars, none bigger than guard Caitlin Clark. 

But Clark contributed nothing but morale support to Indiana in the postseason. Clark along with Sophie Cunningham, Sydney Colson,  Chloe Bibby and Aari McDonald all did not see single minute of floor duty in the playoffs due to injuries. The injury bug did not stop biting there for the Fever, as Damiris Dantas also dealt with a concussion in the playoffs. 

Despite a banged-up roster, the Fever found a way not only to look competitive on the court but also to advance past the first round and push Becky Hammon’s Las Vegas Aces to the brink of elimination, coming just one win short of reaching the WNBA Finals.

In the deciding Game 5 on Wednesday, Indiana lost three-time All-Star Kelsey Mitchell to cramping in the second half, leaving the Fever to finish the contest without their best player in the playoffs. Yet, they forced the game to go to overtime before suffering a 107-98 loss.

Hammon gives Fever props after hard-earned Aces series win

With a roster that’s being held together by duct tape, the Fever shouldn’t have had such a deep run in the playoffs.

 Indiana’s resilience was not lost on Hammon, who gushed over the Fever’s fortitude.

“They would not go away. They just would not go away,” Hammon said of the Fever after the game, per Isabel Gonzalez of CBS Sports.

“Just hats off to them. I thought they did an unbelievable job all the way around, their roster, their coaching staff. They just gas pedaled the whole time.”

Odyssey Sims had her best game of the playoffs in the loss to Las Vegas, with the veteran guard producing 27 points on 7-for-14 shooting from the field and 12-for-13 from the free-throw line. Natasha Howard chipped in 16 points, while Mitchell had 15 points with three makes on three attempts from behind the arc before leaving the game. 

As for the Aces, they’re headed back to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2023, when they defeated the New York Liberty in the championship. This time around, Las Vegas will face off against the Phoenix Mercury, who conquered the Minnesota Lynx in the semis.