The Indiana Fever’s 2025 season has been anything but predictable. A team that once dominated with 12 straight playoff appearances fell into a decade of frustration. Then came Caitlin Clark, whose rookie year snapped that drought and brought the postseason back to Indiana for the first time in ten years.
Only this time, Clark wasn’t the driving force. She missed more games than she played, sidelined by injuries. The Fever lost five rotation players in total, including Clark, Sophie Cunningham, and Aari McDonald. Somehow, with patchwork lineups and constant shuffling, they still clinched a playoff spot.
So how did a team missing half its core end up making history? The answer lies in a roster experiment no one saw coming.
A Roster That Doesn’t Fit in the Frame
WNBA rules set rosters at 11 to 12 players. Yet on September 5, the Fever lined up for their official photo with 16 players in uniform. “Honestly, when we took that picture, we laughed a lot,” Aliyah Boston said onPost Moves with Candace Parker.“We were like, this is the biggest team picture in WNBA history. It has to be.”
Indiana refused to release its injured stars, instead using roster exemptions to bring in Odyssey Sims, Aeriel Powers, Shey Peddy, and returnee Bree Hall. Add that to the core of Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, and Natasha Howard, and you get a squad that rotated through nine different starting lineups and still found chemistry.
Mitchell had her best year yet, averaging 20.2 points and breaking Tamika Catchings’ single-season scoring mark. Boston delivered her most complete season-15.1 points, 8.1 boards, and 3.7 assists-while shooting nearly 54 percent from the floor. The patchwork roster became a rallying point rather than a setback.
Playoff Road Ahead
Now the Fever wait to see if they’ll slot in as the sixth or seventh seed, depending on other results. The challenge is steep: either face Atlanta’s lockdown defense or Las Vegas’ powerhouse lineup led by A’ja Wilson.
Coach Christie Sides has kept the message simple: the Fever aren’t here just to make up the numbers. They want to compete. With Mitchell scoring like a star, Boston anchoring the paint, and a bench full of players who never expected to be part of this run, Indiana heads into the postseason with an identity unlike anyone else’s.
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