Caitlin Clark, Fever finally run out of gas against Lynx after brutal WNBA travel schedule

The Indiana Fever yet ran retired of state Sunday afternoon.

It conscionable took the champion squad successful the WNBA, playing astatine home, to marque it happen.

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The Minnesota Lynx defeated Indiana, 108-100, snapping the Fever’s five-game winning streak and improving to a league-best 25-6. Minnesota extended its ain winning streak to 10 straight, portion Indiana fell to 19-11.

Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever looks connected during a crippled against the Minnesota Lynx astatine Target Center successful Minneapolis, Minn., connected Aug. 2, 2026. (NBAE via Getty Images)

The Lynx were intelligibly the amended squad connected Sunday astatine the Target Center and made respective immense plays erstwhile Indiana threatened to implicit a furious fourth-quarter comeback.

But the WNBA surely didn’t bash the Fever immoderate favors.

Indiana was playing its 3rd roadworthy crippled successful six days, with stops successful Seattle, Portland and Minneapolis, and this 1 started astir 36 hours aft Friday’s precocious crippled successful Portland.

Despite that, the Fever showed plentifulness of fight.

Minnesota appeared to enactment the crippled distant erstwhile Courtney Williams’ jumper gave the Lynx a 98-84 pb with 5:39 remaining.

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Indiana responded with a 14-2 tally to propulsion wrong 100-98, forcing Minnesota to execute nether unit aft seemingly having the crippled wrapped up.

Olivia Miles slowed the comeback, and Courtney Williams helped adjacent it out.

Miles converted an and-one with 58 seconds remaining, pushing Minnesota’s pb backmost to 105-98 and efficaciously sealing the victory. The three-point play gave Miles 28 points connected a ridiculous 11-of-14 shooting.

Williams added a clutch handbasket with 32 seconds near to enactment the crippled retired of reach. She finished with 27 points connected 12-of-20 shooting, meaning the 2 Minnesota guards combined for 55 points.

Olivia Miles No. 5 of the Minnesota Lynx drives to the handbasket during a crippled against the Indiana Fever connected Aug. 2, 2026, astatine Target Center successful Minneapolis, Minn. (NBAE via Getty Images)

Indiana’s Big Three drove the enactment connected the different end.

Kelsey Mitchell served arsenic the scoring engine, pouring successful 37 points connected 14-of-21 shooting. She connected connected six of her 8 three-point attempts.

Caitlin Clark controlled the discourtesy arsenic a facilitator, finishing with 19 points and 10 assists for her eighth double-double this season. Aliyah Boston contributed crossed the committee with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.

Together, Mitchell, Clark and Boston accounted for 71 of Indiana’s 100 points and 20 of its 27 assists.

The Fever changeable 57% from the tract and scored astatine slightest 100 points for the sixth consecutive game, extending the longest specified streak successful WNBA history.

Indiana’s discourtesy wasn't the problem, but the squad looked bushed connected the antiaircraft extremity astatine times. Looking astatine their caller schedule, it's not hard to spot why.

Indiana played Friday nighttime successful Portland successful a crippled that didn’t statesman until 10 p.m. ET. It ended aft midnight connected the East Coast.

The Fever past had Saturday to question 2 clip zones eastbound earlier Sunday’s 1 p.m. ET tipoff successful Minnesota.

That near astir 36 hours betwixt the last buzzer successful Portland and the opening extremity against the Lynx, with a question time successful between.

Technically, it wasn’t a back-to-back.

In applicable terms, it wasn’t overmuch better.

Kelsey Mitchell #0 of the Indiana Fever drives to the handbasket against the Minnesota Lynx connected Aug. 2, 2026, astatine Target Center successful Minneapolis, Minn. (NBAE via Getty Images)

And the Portland-to-Minnesota turnaround was lone the last information of a demanding agelong for Indiana’s champion players.

Clark, Mitchell and Boston each participated successful the WNBA All-Star Game successful Chicago past Saturday. The Fever past traveled crossed the state to play Seattle connected Tuesday, remained successful the Pacific Northwest for Friday’s crippled successful Portland and flew eastbound to Minnesota for Sunday’s matchup.

That’s an All-Star interruption followed by 3 roadworthy games successful 3 antithetic cities implicit 9 days.

Some "break."

Clark raised concerns astir the docket instantly aft the All-Star Game.

"It’s a pugnacious turnaround, and the Fever astir apt person 1 of the quickest turnarounds," Clark said. "We played connected Wednesday, and I’m going location contiguous and I’m flying to Seattle tomorrow."

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She wasn’t alone.

Several All-Star players questioned the deficiency of betterment time, including New York Liberty prima Breanna Stewart.

"If you privation it to beryllium competitive, past determination needs to beryllium much time," Stewart said portion discussing the All-Star Game. "I can’t play connected Wednesday, and past I person a crippled connected Tuesday, and you privation maine to spell balls to the walls connected Saturday."

The Fever’s consequent docket illustrated the larger problem.

ESPN reported during the broadcast that Clark had been "getting sick" earlier Sunday’s game.

The Fever didn't instantly supply further information, and there’s nary mode to cognize whether it had thing to bash with exhaustion, question oregon an unrelated illness.

Caitlin Clark No. 22 of the Indiana Fever shoots during a crippled against the Minnesota Lynx connected Aug. 2, 2026, astatine Target Center successful Minneapolis, Minn. (NBAE via Getty Images)

Still, Clark intelligibly wasn’t entering the crippled nether perfect circumstances.

That made the league’s scheduling determination particularly puzzling.

This wasn’t an mean regular-season matchup. It was a marquee Sunday day nationalist tv crippled connected ABC featuring the WNBA’s champion squad against its astir fashionable squad successful an important play sports clip slot.

The WNBA had each crushed to privation some teams, and particularly its biggest stars, astatine their best.

Instead, it sent Indiana into the showcase little than 2 days aft a precocious crippled connected the different broadside of the country.

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The bully quality for the Fever is that the gauntlet is yet over.

Indiana is going location and doesn’t play again until Thursday against the Las Vegas Aces, giving the squad 3 afloat days without a crippled aft a agelong that sent its All-Stars from Chicago to Seattle, Portland and Minnesota.

The Fever earned the rest.

The WNBA should person fixed them much of it earlier Sunday.