Analyst names most obvious answer to Fever's woes post-Caitlin Clark injury

The Indiana Fever have had one look at what their squad looks like without Caitlin Clark. In their first game since she was sidelined for at least the next two weeks with a quad strain, the Fever dropped a contest to the Washington Mystics in almost deflating fashion.

Washington, led by their elite frontcourt and rookie firepower in Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen, and Lucy Olsen, trounced Indiana 83-77. They were faster, stronger, and more precise on offense, and they were able to defeat a Fever team looking for answers on both ends of the floor after the loss.

Well, one of those answers is Indiana's other recent No. 1 overall pick - Aliyah Boston. The Fever center has seen some incredible success with a facilitator like Clark on the floor thanks to her ability to space the floor and throw dimes to Boston in the post.

Their Mystics game - where they only had 15 assists, and where Boston only had five shots - was proof that Boston still needs to be the focal point for whichever point guard Indiana is running out on the floor in place of Clark.

That's exactly what one analyst points out as the change needed for the fever to not "spiral" over this critical stretch.

Analyst names painfully obvious solution to Fever offense's woes

Sabreena Merchant of The Athletic said in a piece following the Fever's loss to the Mystics that Boston has to be the much more involved in Indiana's scoring moving forward. Her five shots compared to 10 from Natasha Howard (who had five turnovers) and 16 from Kelsey Mitchell (who only hit four of those) were never going to be enough against a Mystics team with a strong scoring frontcourt.

READ MORE: Aliyah Boston's kryptonite becomes clear in first game without Caitlin Clark

"When Boston got the ball on the perimeter midway through the first quarter, she threw a dart to a cutting Colson on the baseline, who then found Lexie Hull in the corner for a 3-pointer. Boston had another difficult cross-court pass from the post to Colson in the opposite corner, and Indiana eventually scored on an offensive rebound. Boston finished 4 of 5 from the field and tied with a team-high four assists, but the Fever needed more from her," wrote Merchant.

It's almost malpractice to not involve Boston more moving forward. She's such a proficient scorer in the post, and is one of the better defenders in the WNBA, as well.

Washington was always going to be a challenge for her - Shakira Austin and Iriafen are ridiculously skilled forwards that disrupted her on both ends of the court - but, only five shots when she was clearly hitting them efficiently bogged down Indiana's offense.

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