WNBA Power Rankings: Caitlin Clark's Struggles Drop Fever, Lynx Ascend to No. 1

Caitlin Clark is still one of the best players in the WNBA, but she didn't look like it during the Indiana Fever's  west coast road trip, which resulted in back-to-back losses to the Golden State Valkyries and expansion Portland Fire , and arguably the worst week of Clark's young career.

Across the two games in San Francisco and Portland, Clark scored 22 points on 4 of 19 shooting, including 2 of 8 from 3-point land, was hunted relentlessly on the defensive end, got into foul trouble and had a highly publicized argument with coach Stephanie White on the bench against the Fire.

Clark's home and road shooting splits -- she's 42 of 108 (38.9%) at home and 5 of 50 (10%) on the road from 3-point range dating back to the start of last season -- are concerning, but the defensive side of the ball is the bigger worry. She isn't known for her defense, but never before has the issue been brought to the forefront so harshly.

The Valkyries and Fire attacked Clark as often as possible, no matter who she was guarding. Again and again, she was put in isolation or a pick-and-roll, and even though her effort was much better in Portland than it was in the Bay Area, she still got worked and nearly fouled out. The Fever's defensive rating was actually slightly better with Clark on (113.1) than Clark off (115) over the two games, but neither number is good and the visual was jarring.

Already this season, Clark has defended 42 isolation possessions; no one else has defended more than 19. Natalie Nakase and Alex Sarama are two of the most inventive and aggressive coaches in the league, and it will be interesting to see if other teams follow their approach to attacking Clark. It's hard to imagine every team will go at her to the extent the Valkyries and Fire did, but they had so much success that Clark will continue to be put under pressure.

Clark is never going to be a lockdown defender, especially with the burden she has to carry on the offensive end, but she has the size and instincts to hold her own and has to take more responsibility on that end of the floor. At the same time, she was a bit unlucky this week with some of the opposing shotmaking and foul calls, which is a good reminder that, as bad as those two games were, they were only two games.

Clark has been inconsistent to start the season and she's still averaging 20.1 points, four rebounds and 8.1 assists on 56.4% true shooting (higher than Chelsea Gray , Breanna Stewart and Kayla McBride , just to name a few). She is fifth in the league in scoring, first in assists and the Fever have a plus-6.0 net rating with her on the floor and a 0.0 net rating with her off the floor.

And as for the Fever, they're 4-4, with three of their defeats coming by three points or fewer, and are two games out of first place.

Clark and the Fever have to be better, and it's fair to have some concerns about both, but two games don't make a season -- or a career.

Biggest Movers 4 Lynx 6 Fever Rk Teams   Chg Rcrd 1 Lynx The Lynx took care of the Dream and Sky this week to run their winning streak to four games, and have taken sole possession of first place. Veteran forward Natasha Howard, who had 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists against Atlanta, has done an exceptional job filling in for the injured Napheesa Collier, and the Lynx have the best defense in the league by a wide margin. They boast a 96.8 defensive rating; no other team is better than 100.0. 4 2 Dream The Dream bounced back from a double-digit loss to the Lynx by crushing the Fire to maintain their spot near the top of the standings. Naz Hillmon scored in double figures in both games and had 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and five steals against the Fire, which was an encouraging sign after the 2025 Sixth Player of the Year had gotten off to a slow start this season while starting in place of Brionna Jones. 1 3 Wings The Wings only played once this week, and they pulled off a 13-point comeback to beat the Aces and win for the fourth time in their last five outings. Jessica Shepard put up 22 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists against the Aces to join Alyssa Thomas as the only players in WNBA history with a 20/20/10 game, and is now averaging career-highs across the board: 13 points, 11.4 rebounds and 6.5 assists. She's turned out to be well worth her million-dollar deal.

3 4 Aces Aces coach Becky Hammon let loose on the refs after her team blew a 13-point lead to the Wings early in the week and shot just 12 free throws. "I'm f---ing tired of that bullshit," Hammon said. "Give me my fine." The next time out, the Aces shot 21 free throws -- tied for their second most this season-- in an extremely impressive double-digit road win over the Valkyries.

-- 5 Liberty The Liberty snapped their three-game losing streak with back-to-back revenge wins over the Mercury, who knocked them out of the playoffs last season. Leonie Fiebich and Raquel Carrera both made their season debuts, but the Liberty still aren't whole yet, as Sabrina Ionescu sat out this week due to a lingering back issue. The four-time All-Star, who missed the team's first five games due to an ankle injury, has only played once this season.

3 6 Fire In a primetime, national TV game on CBS on Saturday, the Fire dismantled the Fever to improve to 6-4 and are now tied with the Lynx for the most wins in the league. To say no one saw this coming is an understatement. "We're a bunch of overlooked players, and I think we all have a chip on our shoulder," Megan Gustafson said after beating the Fever. Gustafson, averaging a career-high 10.4 points per game, is one of five Fire players who has increased their scoring average by at least five points from last season. 1 7 Valkyries After escaping with a two-point win over the Fever, the Valkyries got crushed by the Aces and shot 33.8% in the process. Their significant improvement from the 3-point line -- 32.5% last season to a league-best 38% this season-- has overshadowed some concerning interior scoring numbers. They're 12th in shots per game in the restricted area (17.8) and 14th in restricted area field goal percentage (54.9%). What happens if the 3s stop going in?

4 8 Fever All hell broke loose this week in Feverland. Or, more specifically, Caitlin Clark World. She shot a combined 4 of 19 in their losses to the Valkyries and the Fire, was hunted relentlessly on the defensive end and got into an argument with coach Stephanie White on the bench in Portland. It will be interesting to see if more teams copy the Valkyries and Fire and start spamming pick-and-rolls and isolations to target Clark. And, if so, how do she and the Fever deal with that?

6 9 Sparks After three consecutive wins to climb above .500 for the first time all season, the Sparks' streak was snapped in a loss to the last-place Sun -- a result that alone should earn Kelsey Plum MVP votes. The league's leading scorer rolled her ankle during practice on May 26 and was ruled out for at least one week. The timing of the injury was unfortunate, as the Sparks were just getting rolling, but the team was happy she avoided a long-term absence.

-- 10 Tempo The Tempo took care of the Sky and Storm this week as they continue to alternate mini two-game winning and losing streaks. Rookie point guard Kiki Rice has been excellent since she was inserted into the starting lineup. She's averaging 15.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals on 58.3/38.5/82.9 shooting splits as a starter, and the Tempo are 4-2 in those games.

2 11 Mystics In the Mystics' loss to the Sparks this week, Sonia Citron, Shakira Austin and Kiki Iriafen combined for 59 of the team's 87 points; no one else had more than six. That has become a common theme in D.C. All three members of that trio are averaging at least 15 points and shooting 54% or better from the field, yet the Mystics are 3-4 and have the fourth-worst offense in the league.

3 12 Sky The Sky still haven't won since Rickea Jackson was ruled out for the season with a torn ACL and are now on a four-game losing streak following defeats to the Tempo and Lynx this week. In those outings, they went a combined 12 of 61 from 3-point range to lower their league-worst 3-point percentage to 24.7%. They haven't made more than seven 3s in any game this season and Gabriela Jaquez is the only player shooting better than 30% from behind the arc.

2 13 Storm The Storm returned to losing ways this week with double-digit defeats to the Tempo and Mystics, but Dominique Malonga's lingering concussion symptoms are the bigger concern. The former No. 2 pick hasn't played since suffering a concussion in their loss to the Tempo back on May 13 and has already been ruled out for their game on Monday against the Wings. Malonga also had another concussion in March while playing for France.

2 14 Sun Leïla Lacan finally made her debut on Saturday after concluding her overseas commitments in her native France, and even though she was not at her best, the Sun immediately won for the second time this season, ending the Sparks' three-game winning streak in the process. Dating back to the start of last season, the Sun are now 10-16 when Lacan plays and 3-25 when she does not. 1 15 Mercury The Mercury lost both legs of their two-game set against the Liberty this week and have now dropped five games in a row -- their longest losing streak since 2023. Only the Sun have a worse record, but it's still too early to panic in Phoenix. Their biggest loss during this skid is 10 points, their minus-1.2 net rating is ninth in the league and Monique Akoa Makani's return will be a big boost to their perimeter defense.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/wnba/news/wnba-power-rankings-caitlin-clark-fever-lynx-dream-wings-aces-liberty/)._