The Indiana Fever lay in ruins after their double-injury game against Phoenix. One injury is still manageable, but two? And that to both of their point guards in addition to Caitlin Clark’s struggles? It seemed impossible to recover from. In came their rivals, the Chicago Sky, to take advantage of the situation. But Lexie Hull put her hand up and sent a message that the Fever can sustain, no matter what the circumstances.

She delivered her career best 17 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals on her return to the starting lineup for the first time since Clark’s last game, which was against Connecticut, before her lengthy layoff. This performance retained her place in the starting lineup for the next two games against the Dallas Wings and the Washington Mystics. Hull heard the sweet swish of the net as she put down a 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation to add the icing on the cake in the breakout performance for No. 10.

“I saw the (shot clock) going down, so I was trying to pull out my inner-Kelsey Mitchell,” an extremely happy Hull said afterwards. Mitchell had to fill in at point guard, and the Fever played a lot of zone defense, which was enough for Chicago, but they were soon to find out that it wouldn’t be enough for stronger teams.

Fever went up against the Dallas Wings, which is still a bottom-three team, but better than Chicago in many aspects. While it was not a blowout, the Wings were ahead for most of the game. Despite clawing back from daunting 14- and 17-point holes, Indiana’s comeback magic fizzled in the final moments as they dropped their fourth showdown with the Wings, 81-80.

Then they were on the other end of a comeback. The Fever watched a 13-point cushion evaporate against the 10th-place Mystics, ultimately falling 88-84 in a stunning reversal. “I think we over-dribbled at times. Our off-ball movement wasn’t there. We did a lot of standing. Um, it’s almost like we gave the ball to Kelsey and just tried to watch her work.” White said after that game.

To make some changes, White took the call to bring in a proper ball handler in Odyssey Sims to the lineup, but that meant Hull was once again relegated to the bench, and the fans are confused and enraged at the same time.

Indiana Fever Fans Left Baffled Over Lexie Hull Decision

Admittedly, Hull has not always been the best player for the Fever this season. Before her 17-point game, she was scoring in single digits for ages. Her three-pointer, which was valued earlier in the season, had seemingly disappeared. However, she has gained the support of the fans from her relentless effort on defense and by elevating the intensity of the team whenever she is on the court. With her form on the rise, White’s decision sparked outrage among fans who couldn’t believe she’d make the move.

One fan pointed out her value on defense writing, “This the Connecticut Sun 2.0. Sophie is now Marina. Sorry @lexiehulll. All of the true Fever fans know what it is and who you are. We lose 10 games this year without your defense.” At a defensive rating of 98.4, she is among the best defenders on the team. All the players that are above her play too few minutes in comparison, so it makes her their premier defender. She is the third best in the team when it comes to steals at 1.1 per game. To add to that, she averages less than one turnover per game.

Considering that and the fact that Indiana is not the best defensive team in the league, Hull is invaluable to this Fever side, as another wrote, “Just like that, Lexie Hull is benched again.” Hull was one of the finds of this season for the Fever. She was partly the reason DeWanna Bonner couldn’t get into the starting lineup. Her three-point shooting was comparable to the best in the league. However, she got into a lean patch and White sent her to the bench.

That was understandable when they had Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald, but both are out, and Hull is more gelled in this team than Sims, which has further confused what White is thinking. Another fan wrote, “This coach lineups changes are terrible!!” White has been at the receiving end of such criticism. But even she is in a tough spot at the moment. The team is without ball handlers, and Sims is the veteran point guard on the squad right now.

She has no option but to throw her in the deep end. Her in-game substitutions have kept fans scratching their heads all season, even before this latest lineup shakeup. As this fan wrote in frustration, “The f— is this s–t??” The situation with Fever is certainly a little unique. A team rarely has so many injuries at one position, and the timing is even worse. Hull should be a fixture in this lineup based on her defensive specialty, but White took the call to try Sims, and we will see how it turns out.