The weather in Indiana seems to be as cloudy as the storms inside the Fever locker room. Since the beginning of the month, their star point guard has not been at her best with the left quad strain, and when she finally returned after five games, she was sidelined again. In the final few seconds of the Seattle Storm’s road game, Aliyah Boston threw an inbounding ball to Caitlin Clark, who couldn’t catch it. Running behind the loose ball, the Fever No. 22 twisted her ankle, which was later diagnosed to be a groin injury. While replacing DeWanna Bonner, the Fever welcomed Aari McDonald back, hoping to see some gaps in their games fill in; that wasn’t the case in front of the LA Sparks, where the team lost 85-75. However, the loss isn’t as big of a concern as Indiana closing their games lately.

In the last four matchups, where the Fever has only won against Seattle, there has been a pattern. Indiana’s young core would enter the games gun blazing, taking a good lead against their opponents. However, the flip would switch late in the game. Statistically, the Fever have been outscored 106-78 in the fourth quarter in their last four games.That’s a -28 point differential, one of the worst in the entire league. Although they managed a win over the Storm, they’ve also had three losses in games that were theirs to win. The home defeat stings worse as the visiting Sparks were also worse at closing out games but Kelsey Plum and Azura Stevens’ work helped the LA team take a win, sending the Fever to a 7-8 record.

With 4:13 left, Plum made a 3-pointer, giving the Sparks its first lead of the game since the opening minute of the second quarter. With two free throws made in the next possession, they made a 21-8 run. Then Stevens’ three-pointer on Dearica Hamby’s missed free throw offensive rebound pushed the Sparks to a 81-75 lead. LA made four more points, keeping Indiana in the wraps, and stole the show at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. With the continued late-game pattern emerging, of course, HC Stephanie White had to send a message to her team and the fans.

In her postgame presser, a reporter asked White, “This is the third time in the last four game you guys have double-digit second half lead, even fourth quarter, and can’t close. What to you is there thematically that’s going on these games that you guys haven’t been able to finish?”

Without sugar-coating her response, White answered, “I think that we haven’t shown a killer instinct yet,” White said during post-game press conference. “We have had a tendency to relax in those moments instead of, for lack of a better term, go for the kill. We’ve had empty possessions where we’ve been too lax with the basketball. Have taken poor shots or not valued every opportunity we have to score. We’ve had breakdowns on the defensive end of the floor. It’s just moments of mental lapses or mental relaxation that you can’t have in this league.”

White even pointed out just what happened in the final ten minutes where the Sparks out ran Fever by 35 points. Hinting at the defense, she said, “Lack of communication. We had a lot of people in gray area. Lack of discipline to our coverages. Lack of physicality. I think they scored three times in the same play and there was zero communication. Just like any good team, you go back to it. You continue to go back to it. Fouling, undisciplined fouling, all those things. We have to be better at. Things we’ve struggled with throughout the course of the season is just undisciplined fouling and putting teams to the free throw line.”

Just consider that Sparks was supposed to be worse than the Fever in second-half stumbles. However, today, it was the Sparks that won the mental battle.

And then there was Kelsey Plum. After hitting the snooze button for most of the first half, she flipped the switch in the fourth. In a 71-second stretch that could not have afforded any lax, she dropped seven straight points to put L.A. on top, 69–66, reminding everyone why she’s fourth in the league in scoring. So, it was empty possessions, mental lapses, and defensive breakdowns that showed as the Fever allowed 50% shooting overall and 42 points in the paint.

If you thought it was just CC’s absence, think again. Caitlin is very important, and her absence affects the team’s offense and ball movement big time. But more than that, they need to find a way to be cohesive in her absence, and they will be able to come through.

Fever can still survive without Caitlin Clark!

No doubt, the Fever have lost not just their top scorer and playmaker, but also the one player who had the ability to keep their offense functioning as a unit. And that was evident in their recent performance, as the team struggled to consistently get the ball to Aliyah Boston. Just think about it, Boston was coming off a career-high 31-point game and currently leads the WNBA with a stellar 62% field goal percentage. Yet, in this matchup, she was left battling for position and calling for the ball.

What else could you expect? She finished the game shooting just 4-of-13 and managed to contribute only 12 points to the team’s total. What could have been a major advantage for the Fever in the final quarter instead turned into a directionless offense during crunch time.

And when Kelsey Mitchell isn’t lighting it up from deep, which hasn’t happened consistently when Clark is out, Indiana’s offense loses its identity. No amount of hustle plays, points, or rebounds from the likes of Aari McDonald, Lexie Hull, and Sophie Cunningham is enough to overcome a broken half-court system. Until the Fever learns how to function without Caitlin Clark steering the offense, that 7-8 record isn’t going anywhere. So yeah, if you’re wondering how they can turn things around – it starts with finding a plan B that actually runs. One that doesn’t need Caitlin Clark at its center.