The Sky's loss had a direct effect on the Fever...
Indiana Fever Dealt Unfortunate Blow After Chicago Sky Lost on Friday originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky have had their fair share of injury problems during the 2025 WNBA season, both missing their stars in Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, respectively, for an extended period of time.
On Friday, still without their stars, both the Fever and Sky were handed losses. Indiana fell to the Washington Mystics 88-84, while the Sky lost their fourth-straight game, falling to the Golden State Valkyries 90-59.
The Fever entered Friday’s game in sixth place in the WNBA standings, just ahead of the Valkyries. After the loss, Indiana fell to 18-16, while the Valkyries improved to 18-15 with their win over Chicago.
As a result, the Fever have now dropped to seventh in the standings, with the Valkyries leapfrogging them into sixth. Had the Fever won, or the Valkyries lost, Indiana would have stayed in sixth place.
The Valkyries climbed past the Fever in the standings on the strength of a four-game winning streak, improving from 14-15 to 18-15 in less than a week. The Fever, meanwhile, have dropped four of their last five, doing little to help their own playoff push with Clark still sidelined due to a groin injury.
The Valkyries have now jumped the Indiana Fever for 6th place
— Matt Lively (@mattblively) August 16, 2025
The Fever are now only 0.5 games back of the Valkyries in the standings. They also hold a 1.5-game lead over the Los Angeles Sparks (16-17) for seventh, who just defeated the Dallas Wings on Friday. The Seattle Storm could also jump to 17-17 with a win on Friday.
If the playoffs were to begin on Saturday, the Fever would match up against Brittney Griner and the Atlanta Dream (21-11) in the first round, while the Valkyries would face the defending champion New York Liberty.
Indiana has lost their two meetings with Golden State this season, giving the Valkyries the tiebreaker. Still, the Fever will have one more chance, facing the Valkyries for the final time of 2025 on August 31.
Related: Paige Bueckers Surpasses Former Dallas Wings Player Now with Indiana Fever
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 16, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Basketball
