The Fever have looked as good as any team in basketball since returning from the Olympic break.
Caitlin Clark & Co. have strung together back-to-back wins to kick off WNBA basketball's post-Olympic slate. They've done so with relative ease, too, dropping 98 points on the Mercury and unleashing a 17-point beatdown on the No. 5-seed Storm.
A title run seems unlikely for the youthful squad, which still sits below .500 with 12 games remaining on its regular season schedule. But recent performances certainly add a layer of optimism to this year's side. According to WNBA legend Sue Bird, they could also serve as a blueprint of how Indiana can outgun its opposition one fast break at a time.
Speaking with longtime partner — and fellow women's sports icon — Megan Rapinoe, Bird explained that Clark and the Fever are perfectly equipped to compete down the stretch. The reason why? They play with pace.
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“What I’ve learned in my WNBA experience is pace of play trumps physicality, it trumps size, it can trump experience," Bird said. "What I see in Caitlin, what I see in Kelsey Mitchell, they’re just ramming it down people’s throats.”
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Sue Bird explains why Caitlin Clark, Fever could surprise in WNBA Playoffs
Bird detailed the impact tempo can have on opposition defenses, drawing parallels between this year's Indiana side and the title-winning Seattle teams of 2018 and 2020 that Bird spearheaded from the backcourt.
Both teams were defined by a willingness to get the ball out in transition, with the likes of Bird, Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd conjuring up magic spells in the open floor. Clark is a disciple of that art form, tossing feathers down the hardwood to find Kelsey Mitchell and Lexie Hull.
Not only does it make for wildly entertaining basketball, Bird said. It also mitigates other aspects of the sport like physicality and experience, facets of the game that Indiana may be lacking in at present.
It's a great equalizer of sorts, Bird added. And it can pay serious dividends when matching up against aging sides.
Indiana is averaging 80.9 possessions per 40 minutes this season per WNBA.com, the fifth-best tally in the W. That total improved to 82.5 possessions per 40 minutes in August.
Bird tipped Clark to continue to break records with Indiana and suggested that teams press up on her, a tactic that was used to great effect (and plenty of controversy) earlier in the season.
The Fever will get to try their luck against title contender on Aug. 28, when they face off against the 20-7 Sun on Aug. 28. Perhaps they'll employ a strategy similar to the one Bird recommended. Such a tactic served them well when they dueled with one another earlier in the campaign .
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