WNBA Playoff Picture: Caitlin Clark, Fever keep playoff hopes alive with win over Sun | CBS Sports

fifth most rebounds in a season, 381 and counting. Let's talk WNBA on a night. The Indiana Fever get an impressive win as well. HQ WNBA analyst Akira Carter is with us. And Shakira. Fever. First time they beat the Connecticut Sun in four tries. And what more can you say about Caitlin Clark? She already has the rookie assist record on this night. She claims the three point mark for a single season for a rookie this is a team that went from one and eight to start the season. They're 14 and eight over their last 22. Can you kind of pinpoint what her impact has been on this team and her year one in the league? It's been remarkable. Similar to what Kelsey Mitchell said post game, we've had the time to develop the chemistry with one another, and it's been a work in progress. Every day. But it's the buy in portion that has been impressive for the Indiana Fever, because a lot of times when teams don't have chemistry, one of two things are going to happen. They're going to answer the call or they're going to fold. Right now, the Indiana Fever are answering the call, and we're even hearing them being called the team to beat. They're on the up and up. And Caitlin Clark has been a huge, huge piece of that dynamic. The game has slowed down for her a lot compared to the first couple months of her rookie year, where I think she was just trying to find her footing, her pacing, what it means to be a WNBA player, where I got to get that ball moving and now she's breaking records left and right. She surpassed Ryan Howard to become the number one rookie with over 86 three pointers made, which is just impressive. So she does a little bit of everything from distributing the rock to also making sure she's picking her spots to score as well. And I think that's made all the difference when it comes to finding a balance for what the fever do. Yeah, she's she's grown accustomed to the physicality of the pro game, if you will. And also that scoring record is within reach. Last nine games of the regular season as well. But again I mentioned the fact that they're only a half game out of sixth overall in the league. Now behind the Phoenix Mercury. This is a team that again beats Connecticut for the first time in four tries. Where are they in your mind with regards to where they stack up with playoff contenders having won 14 of the last 22? Honestly, with the way that the Phoenix Mercury have been playing, the Indiana Fever truly do have an opportunity to take over that six spot. And if I'm them, I'm trying to climb as high as I can so I don't get a matchup against that 1 or 2 seed in the first round. You can see them potentially take an early exit, so with Phoenix, their next game is going to be up against Vegas. And then we just saw them go the Atlanta Dream. They came down to the wire against the Seattle Storm. Phoenix is going to have to play them too. On Tuesday. So Phoenix the road ahead isn't easy for them. And I think the road ahead for the Indiana Fever, it actually is starting to ease up a bit. And so they had the bulk of the tough competition earlier on in May and June. And now that they're settled in and they're playing these teams three and four times, they're figuring them out a little bit. And it shows in their dynamic as a squad. And no question they've come together as a team. You know you're talking about the top of the league. The New York Liberty lose to the L.A. sparks. They come off a loss as well recently to Connecticut. And then you have Vegas which A'ja Wilson scores 42. And it comes in a loss. And they've kind of been scuttling of late. And those are your finalists from a season ago. Your level of concern for the two finalists is higher. For which team I'm not too concerned about the New York Liberty. And I say that because they go into these gantlets with an unhealthy roster. Jonquel Jones didn't play tonight, and I still think that's no excuse to lose to the LA sparks. They're dead. Last in the standings. However, they were missing 15 points per game and nine rebounds per game in their lineup. They look sluggish. They look, you know, a little slow. But Nigel Hamilton, she's just now coming back into the fold of things. She's one of their best defenders. And another X factor when it comes to scoring. She's just returning from a knee injury. And so when completely healthy the Liberty they're dominant. I'm not concerned about them. Only six losses. And with the season winding down they've already clinched their playoff spot. You rather it come now than they get into the playoffs. And they you know they mess it around. I'm more concerned about Vegas. They don't look as polished as a team as we saw when they went back to back. There's something missing there in the fold where A'ja Wilson Yes she's capable of scoring 42. Obviously we saw that. But it hasn't been coming easy for her because it seems as though her teammates haven't been in a solid rhythm. So there's something going on within that Vegas I would say offense really I don't think defensively they have much problems where they have to figure out, okay, how do we get back to us as a team, whether that's Chelsea Gray scoring the ball a little bit more, Kelsey Plum is not moving enough for me. It's not sticking and I think they they concern me a little bit more than the New York Liberty for sure. That makes sense right now as we speak. They'd be the road team. They wouldn't have home court in the opening round of the playoffs, though. The Seattle Storm would. Seattle, coming off a late win on this night, they are fourth overall in the league. When you stack up these playoff contenders, they are home court in the opening round. Where do you see Seattle with regards to fighting for a title, I'm going to be honest here about Seattle. Their consistency that is of concern to me because they're in dog fights night in and night out. And so when they can reach the point where they're getting wins and it's like, oh, this is convincing, they're coming out and they're just flat out smacking teams. They have the talent, they have the roster, and to me, they have the depth to win it. But what I want to see more is how do we put together four quarters of play to show that we can be that title contender team? So I don't put them in regards to up there with the likes of a Minnesota Lynx or the New York Liberty quite yet, but I think tonight is a step in the right direction for them to show that the grittiness and how they can gut out wins against an Atlanta Dream team who is also on the up and up. They're one spot away from getting that eighth seed. If the Chicago Sky can't get their act together who have lost four straight? Yeah, I think there's no doubt that Minnesota has shown that they are the best of the West. She's tied. Carter HQ WNBA analyst Ty, we appreciate the insight. Thanks. This is what it looks like with regards to notable tips from the WNBA on CBS Sports Network. You get the fever against the sparks who come off that win over the Liberty on Wednesday, and the Wings and Liberty back at it on Tuesday. Aces and sun followed by the sparks again getting the Phoenix Mercury and again as we mentioned, the Mercury just one half game up on the