Despite Sunday's loss to rival Chicago, the Fever are starting to find themselves

It's not all about Caitlin Clark anymore. Now Aliyah Boston is balling. Kelsey Mitchell. NaLyssa Smith. After the slow start, the Fever are coming of age.

Caitlin Clark is already getting the LeBron James treatment. On the Fever’s penultimate possession, Clark, who had played a brilliant game against the Chicago Sky, Sunday chose to pass out of a double team, finding Aliyah Boston just beyond the free-throw line. Wide open, Boston, never a great perimeter shooter, lobbed one toward the basket that missed badly, long and wide left, and the Sky walked out of their arena with an 87-86 victory.

I can already hear Skip Bayless, a noted LeBron critic, claim that Clark lacks the “clutch gene.”

Which is absurd, obviously, because Clark did what she did all game long, drawing double teams and passing out to Boston, who made good use the numbers advantage and either scored or passed to the corner for a teammate’s open 3-ball. (Would I have liked to see her take it to the hole on an earlier possession when she led a transition break, only to pass to Kristy Wallace, who failed to convert? Yes. Certainly. But she made the “right play.” Again.)

Despite the loss, we’re seeing the growth and development of the once-horrific Indiana Fever. After a 1-8 start due largely to the inhumane schedule the league dropped on the Fever – 11 games in 20 days, most of them against the top three teams in the league – Indiana has found its footing. They’ve won six of their last nine games and have improved significantly on the defensive end of the floor (notwithstanding Sunday’s loss, when they sent the Sky to the free-throw line 32 times and got beat in transition way too frequently).

They are turning the corner and it’s great fun to watch.