It took one game without Caitlin Clark for Fever veterans to step up in a big way

Natasha Howard finished up the first half of the Indiana Fever's contest against the Washington Mystics with 10 points. DeWanna Bonner saw eight minutes of action, where she scored nine points on 3-4 shooting from the field and one triple. Sydney Colson and Kelsey Mitchell provided the playmaking, while Lexie Hull and Sophie Cunningham provided the shooting.

These were all the contributions that the Fever absolutely had to have from their veterans in their first Caitlin Clark-less game this season. Clark, who is out for at least the next two weeks with a quad injury, was on the sideline with Indiana coaches watching her vets handle the pace and strength of the Mystics.

This offseason, it was a priority for the Fever front office and newly hired head coach Stephanie White to not only bring on veterans to surround Clark and Aliyah Boston with, but to add veterans with championship experience - Colson, Bonner, and Howard all fit the bill.

While it was just one half, it was clear that Indiana's investment in veterans like them was looking to immediately pay off in Clark's absence.

Lack of Clark no trouble for Fever veterans in first half of action without guard

Clark is averaging 19 points per game along with 9.3 assists, so she's basically the engine for the Fever's starting lineup on offense. Without her, the team was clearly betting on relying on off-ball work to get themselves better looks with a defense less interested in collapsing in on her and Boston. White said as much in her pregame press conference prior to their Mystics matchup.

When you have a bench that features such scorers like Bonner and Cunningham, though, White can't be too worried about figuring out where those 19 points per game will come from over these next few weeks. Bonner can especially get hot, and Cunningham adds three point shooting depth to their lineups that they desperately need with Clark riding the bench.

In addition to them, players like Howard and even Damiris Dantas are expected to step up in Clark's absense to take the load off of Boston. Boston, in her first half of action sans Clark, struggled against the Mystics' talented front court. With no Clark on the court, she'll need to gain some more chemistry with Colson and Mitchell feeding her in the post.

Overall, the early returns on this Fever teams' depth and veteran investment are very good.

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