Sparks run away from Indiana Fever with Caitlin Clark limited, Aliyah Boston out

LOS ANGELES — Just two weeks after Indiana posted a 30-point win over Los Angeles at home, the Fever lost focus in a 106-92 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Aliyah Boston was out in a load management situation, with the Fever (12-9) playing a back-to-back against Phoenix tomorrow, and the Fever really missed her size in the paint. Caitlin Clark returned for her first game since June 24, but she was on a minutes restriction, playing 16 minutes and scoring nine points on 4-for-12 shooting (1 for 6 on 3s).

Kelsey Mitchell scored 29 points for the Fever, and Lexie Hull scored 14.

Here’s what I liked and disliked, and what the loss means.

Buy 2026 Indiana Fever tickets!

• Kelsey Mitchell’s scoring: All-Star Mitchell was basically the only bright spot for the Fever in this game, and she kept them afloat by doing what she does best: scoring. Mitchell, who is second in the league at 21.9 points per game, scoring 29 on Wednesday night, with a 9-of-18 mark from the field and 5 of 9 from 3-point range.

Why the Fever let rookie development player sign with WNBA’s best team

• First-quarter challenge: Fever coach Stephanie White spent her challenge early, forcing a review of Makayla Timpson’s first foul in the first quarter. That challenge on Timpson’s offensive foul was ultimately deemed unsuccessful, costing White a timeout and the ability to challenge for the rest of the game. Choosing to spend a challenge in the first quarter, no matter how confident you could be, is typically unwise. It was Timpson’s first foul, the Fever were up five, and it was too early for a reversal to have any large impact on the game. Losing a challenge that early took away White’s ability to challenge for the final 35 minutes of the game, including an out-of-bounds call in the third that she was irate about.
• Early frontcourt fouls: Boston was ruled out of Wednesday’s game and Justine Pissott (who signed with the Aces on Tuesday) was no longer available to be activated, so the Fever were running thin in the frontcourt even before the game tipped off. Then, early foul trouble from starting frontcourt duo Monique Billings and Myisha Hines-Allen didn’t help. Billings picked up her third foul (two of them offensive) at the 7:50 mark of the second, and Hines-Allen picked up her third (an away-from-play foul that resulted in a free throw and possession for the Sparks) with 4:23 in the second. That forced White to play Damiris Dantas and Grace VanSlooten, two players that largely only play in garbage time, in meaningful minutes in the second.
• Lack of frontcourt depth: To go along with those early fouls, the Sparks (even without Cameron Brink) found little resistance in Fever’s frontcourt on Wednesday with Boston out. Los Angeles easily cut through the paint, scoring 60 points there throughout the game, and got some crucial and-ones, including once when Rae Burrell grabbed an uncontested rebound and got an unguarded putback. With foul trouble and injury compounding, the Fever were forced to either play small or with inexperienced bigs against a strong Sparks frontcourt that includes All-Star Nneka Ogwumike and Dearica Hamby.

The Fever are a very inconsistent team; they went from beating the league-leading Aces on Sunday, then losing to the 11th-place Sparks on Wednesday. Some of it can be attributed to injuries, like how they sorely missed Boston on Wednesday and had Clark on a minutes restriction, but they need to find some consistency even through that to become a contender in this league.

Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at chloe.peterson@indystar.com or follow her on X at @chloepeterson67. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter. Subscribe to IndyStar TV: Fever for in-depth analysis, behind-the-scenes coverage and more.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Sparks run away from Indiana Fever with Caitlin Clark limited, Aliyah Boston out