With just one practice and a morning shootaround behind her, Aari McDonald stepped into Tuesday night’s game like she’d been with the team for weeks. There were no signs of hesitation, nothing to prove that this was her debut. She played 27 minutes, handed out 5 assists, swiped 3 steals, scored 7 points, and walked off the floor without a single turnover. Yes, the numbers don’t sound grand, and the shots from the magnificent three-point range didn’t fall, but that wasn’t where her value lived. Instead, it showed up in other moments.

Like with under 90 seconds left, when the Mystics were closing in. McDonald drove into the paint and, without even looking, bounced a pass to Kelsey Mitchell, cutting through. Mitchell finished, got the foul, and hit the and-one. That one play pretty much shut the door on any comeback. It gave the Fever the cushion they needed and helped seal the 85–76 win, their first in three games, and their first Commissioner’s Cup win of the season.

By then, McDonald had already done enough on defense. She’d drawn two offensive fouls, picked off passes, and kept up full-court pressure that forced the Mystics into mistakes. Her drives weren’t about putting up points herself, they were about pulling defenders in, just enough to free up someone else. She didn’t just show up when the Fever needed a hand on the court, she settled things down. And after the game, Stephanie White made sure to say it.

Her locker room message was four bold words: “Aari, hell of a job.” She added, “You came in and you impacted the ball game. You settled us down. You were aggressive. Your defense set the tone.” McDonald walked into a crisis and somehow brought calm to the storm. The way she played, it didn’t feel like she was new to the system at all. She just got it. Indiana suddenly looked composed, even confident, something we hadn’t seen much of without Clark.

McDonald’s presence made a noticeable difference in the Fever’s offensive flow. After the win, Aari also opened up a bit. “It felt good tonight to finally get back,” she said. “When your number is called, you’ve got to be ready to deliver, and I felt like I did just that. … It made me anxious, you know, just coming in and not knowing the system, not really playing with the players, but it was [watching] a lot of film.”

As she said, she was anxious, but did it show? Not one bit. In fact, McDonald pulled off something wild, too. She jumped into the top 10 of one WNBA stat category after just one game. We’re talking about offensive fouls drawn. She drew three in her first eight minutes against the Mystics and finished with five for the game, helping the Fever with an 85-77 win that they desperately needed. 

However, they’ve still got a long road ahead to recover when it comes to rankings. 

Fever slips in rankings without Caitlin Clark

What started as a promising season with one of the most hyped offseason hauls turned into a scramble just to stay relevant in the standings. The 3-game skid before Tuesday’s win hurt and reflected on the rankings. The Fever, now sitting at 3-4, dropped hard in both ESPN and CBS’s WNBA Power Rankings.

Last week, Indiana held a solid No. 6 spot on ESPN’s list. But this week, they were down three spots to No. 9. And CBS wasn’t much kinder, slotting them at No. 8. That’s a tough pill to swallow, especially for a team that came into the season with big dreams and high expectations.

Meanwhile, guess who jumped ahead of them? The Chicago Sky. The same team that also had a rough start. But back-to-back wins over the Dallas Wings helped boost the Sky from dead last to No. 8 on ESPN’s list.  We know that both Chicago and Indiana made some serious moves this offseason and were supposed to make a splash. But so far, it’s been a bumpy ride.

Still, it’s hard not to feel like the Fever deserves a bit more credit. Yes, CC is out. But the grind hasn’t stopped. They’re still fighting.  Caitlin Clark is expected to be evaluated on June 9th and could be back as early as June 10th against the Atlanta Dream. So, Indiana’s got at least one more game to go before their star might return to the court.

But until then, it looks like McDonald is ready to hold it down.