'Their chemistry is off the charts': Fever's Big 3 fueling historic offense

Toronto Tempo head coach Sandy Brondello didn't have a concrete solution for the Indiana Fever's top-ranked offense ahead of their most recent matchup.

Conceding that the Fever's scorching attack has been close to unstoppable, Brondello figured her best counter was to try to force them into taking certain shots.

Teams across the league have faced the same dilemma this year, struggling to find ways to slow down the Fever as they continue to light up the scoreboard and establish new benchmarks.

Indiana is on track to break the single-season WNBA record for points (96.6 per game) and offensive efficiency (115.6 points per 100 possessions). The Fever have already shattered the mark for 100-point games in one campaign (18), including a league-best six consecutive contests reaching triple digits.

Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell are leading the way for the offense, combining for 63.9 points - a pace that would make them the highest-scoring trio over a single season.

"Their chemistry is off the charts," Brondello said of the Fever's Big Three. "When you have the time to build that over years, it shows. But I think individually, they've all improved."

Clark resumed her role as the focal point of Indiana's offense following an injury-shortened 2025 campaign. The third-year floor general's shooting range and ability to deliver passes from all angles continue to give opposing defenses fits.

But Clark has found other ways to manufacture her scoring this season, especially in the mid-range.

Excelling off pin-downs, she's consistently knocking down turnaround jumpers, pulling up confidently from the elbow, and creating separation from defenders on step-backs and side-steps. As a result, Clark has more than doubled her mid-range field goals (34) from her rookie season.

Indiana head coach Stephanie White attributed some of Clark's success to her being "more willing to live with twos than threes," knowing that opponents are working harder to run her off the 3-point line.

"It's not something that she hasn't had before. It's just something she hadn't had to use," White said of the three-time All-Star's mid-range prowess.

Converting a career-best 65.5% of her attempts in the restricted area, Clark has also been more aggressive in driving to the basket when the opportunity presents itself.

Her relentlessness off the bounce has led to more points at the free-throw line, where she ranks fifth in attempts (216) and has cleared her total from two years ago in fewer appearances.

"She worked a lot in the offseason in not avoiding contact and angles at which she's attacking to embrace the contact. ... She's playing with a low center of gravity. Sometimes, when you play upright and you try to avoid (contact), you don't get that call," White told theScore.

"I think she's low, and she's using her body to get into defenders when they're out of position. She's really worked hard on it, and it's paying off."

Boston placed a "big emphasis" on her 3-point shooting after she struggled in last year's postseason, going 1-for-9 from downtown. The 6-foot-5 center believes she could've maybe pushed the Fever into the WNBA Finals instead of falling one win short had she drained a few more.

This year, Boston has not only evolved into an outside threat, but she's now among the league's top shooters from deep. The South Carolina product ranks eighth in 3-point percentage (41.7%) and has made more triples (40) this season than her first three campaigns combined.

Her newfound weapon has expanded her ball-screen game with Clark beyond the pick-and-roll. Whenever defenses blitz Clark or over-guard her downhill drives, she's now got Boston as an option in the pick-and-pop.

"I think it allows us to have a lot more space," Boston said of her 3-point stroke. "It makes teams unable to just sit in the paint. They're gonna have to rotate a little bit."

Boston's floor spacing drags opposing bigs out of the key, allowing Mitchell more room to drive, make backdoor cuts, and create her own shot in isolation sets.

According to White, Mitchell is the toughest one-on-one cover in the WNBA - a claim backed up by impressive stats. The 5-foot-8 guard is enjoying a career year in her age-30 campaign, sitting first league-wide in 3-point percentage (45.5%), first in points off turnovers (177), second in scoring (24.8), and second in clutch points (65).

Mitchell has been a model of consistency throughout the season, recently surpassing A'ja Wilson's WNBA record for consecutive 20-point contests. She could also become just the third player in league history to join the 50/40/90 club at season's end. While Clark usually delivers strong performances, she takes comfort in knowing that Mitchell and her teammates can pick her up when her shot isn't falling.

"I think probably the most underrated part of (Mitchell's) game - certainly this year - has been the way she's been able to guard and take every matchup that we've asked her to take," Clark told reporters, including theScore, during the Fever's recent trip to Toronto.

Clark added: "People don't understand how good her off-ball cutting is. It leads to a lot of really easy baskets for us. Puts the defense in rotation. So, it's really fun to get to share the backcourt with her, and (there's) certainly nobody better. When there's a night you don't have it, you find other ways to pour into those people."

Though she isn't complaining, White described Mitchell's steady play as "almost like a crutch at times" for the Fever.

"She just can get a shot any time," White told theScore. "She gets a shot for herself, her gravity creates shots for everybody else. It's nice to know that you can give her the ball and let her go to work. There aren't a lot of players that can just create the kind of shots that she does."

Sophie Cunningham spent her first six seasons with the Phoenix Mercury before being traded to Indiana in 2025. During her tenure in Phoenix, the veteran sharpshooter played alongside some of the WNBA's top offensive talents, including Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, Skylar Diggins, and Tina Charles.

Now with Indiana, Cunningham feels fortunate to have a front-row seat to yet another set of dynamic offensive stars.

"When those three are clicking and their chemistry ... on the court, it is an all-time high - which it has been - people cannot defend that. I'm not kidding," Cunningham said. "No one can defend Kelsey. When C's on, no one can defend her. No one can really defend AB.

"And so for us - the others is what we like to call ourselves - we just try to make sure they get the ball when they need it. We know they're going to get the majority of the shots, and that's how it should be. When we get the ball, we need to knock down our shots and do what the team needs."

Still, Indiana's electric offensive display might not matter if it doesn't improve on the opposite end. The Fever rank 11th in defensive efficiency (108.6) and are surrendering the most total points in the paint (1,694).

Notably, over the last 15 seasons, only two champions have allowed more than 100 points per 100 possessions. The Las Vegas Aces were the lone exception, finishing sixth and eighth in defensive efficiency in 2022 and 2025, respectively.

However, the Fever have shown signs of hope, holding opponents below 100 points for in eight of their last nine games. During that span, they've tallied the most points off turnovers (158) and limited their counterparts to a 29.5% clip from deep. Boston is averaging 3.6 stocks, while Mitchell has registered four multi-steal performances. Clark has also stepped up her defense after being constantly targeted in isolation earlier in the year.

"I think it just starts with a mentality," Clark said. "You have to take pride in it. I think the physicality and meeting them at the point (of attack). We've been doing some different stuff defensively. So, I think it takes a different level of attention to detail, a different amount of being locked into your scout, and knowing what you want to get to."

Cunningham singled out the defensive impact of second-year forward Makayla Timpson, who's brought some athleticism and switchability since entering the club's first five on Aug. 8. The five-woman starting lineup of Clark, Boston, Mitchell, Timpson, and Lexie Hull has a defensive efficiency of 89 in just 114 minutes together.

With Timpson and Boston patrolling the backline, Cunningham feels like she's got more leeway to play aggressive on-ball defense.

If the Fever are to end their 14-year title drought, they'll have to maintain that defensive progress.

"At the start of the season, we were horrible," Cunningham told theScore. "I'm not saying we're great now. We still have a lot of growth to be had before playoffs. But I will say, we (initially) only had one or two defensive schemes that all of us could do. ... Now, we have four to six that we're pretty good at.

"I think you have to. The league is too good. You can't just have one or two schemes. People will pick that apart and tear you apart. I'm proud of us. I think there's still more in our tank. But honestly, our offense has got to continue. But we can show up on our defense here and there."