Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever can clinch WNBA playoff spot as early as tonight. Here’s how.

INDIANAPOLIS — After eight years, the Indiana Fever are on the cusp of getting out of the longest active playoff drought in WNBA history.

Indiana, which hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2016, could clinch a playoff berth as early as Tuesday night. The Fever would be the sixth team to clinch a playoffs spot, joining New York, Connecticut, Minnesota, Seattle and Las Vegas.

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“That would be huge,” Fever forward NaLyssa Smith said of potentially clinching a playoff berth on Tuesday. “It’s something the program hasn’t done in a while, so just to be part of it is great.”

But two games will have to go their way for the Fever to be in tonight: Chicago will need to lose to Las Vegas, and Atlanta will need to lose to Phoenix. Both of those games are on the road on the West Coast, starting at 10 p.m. EST.

The Fever have won four games in a row and six of seven since returning from the Olympics break.

How Indiana Fever can clinch WNBA playoffs spot

Indiana is at 17-16 with seven games left, meaning the worst they can finish is 17-23. That already puts them ahead of Los Angeles, which has 25 losses.

After that, the key is who plays who for the rest of the season.

Both Chicago and Atlanta are at 11-21 heading into tonight’s games. If Chicago (at Las Vegas) and Atlanta (at Phoenix) both lose tonight, the best they could each finish is 18-22. The two teams play each other again, though, so one would have at minimum 23 losses. Indiana holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over both teams.

The Washington Mystics are at 9-23, so the best they could finish is 17-23. The Fever and Mystics play again in the final game of the regular season, so if Washington won that, the teams would tie head-to-head at 2-2. But Indiana would win the second tiebreaker, which is conference record. The worst Indiana could finish is 10-10 in the Eastern Conference, while Washington already has 11 losses in conference. Washington also plays Atlanta and Chicago one more time each, so Washington wins in those games would give Indiana an advantage.

When it comes to Dallas, which also sits at 9-23, it’s a similar situation; the best they could finish is 17-23. Dallas winning out would give the Wings the head-to-head over Indiana, as the two teams play once more this season; however, Dallas also plays Washington, Chicago and Atlanta one more time each.

So, even if Dallas were to miraculously move ahead of the Fever in the standings, it would be at the expense of another team not making the playoffs.

Of course, all of this hinges on both Atlanta and Chicago losing on Tuesday night. If one of them wins, the situation changes to Indiana needing a win over Los Angeles on Wednesday to clinch. If both Chicago and Atlanta win, the Fever will need to wait a bit longer.

What is Indiana Fever’s record?

The Fever are 17-16, above .500 for the first time since 2019.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Caitlin Clark, Fever can clinch WNBA playoff spot as early as Tuesday