A sideline flashpoint in Phoenix
The Phoenix Mercury beat the Indiana Fever 85-79 on Tuesday, but the loudest moment didn’t come from a made shot. It came from the sideline. With the Fever huddled during a timeout and Caitlin Clark in black sweats nursing a groin injury, DeWanna Bonner walked past the Indiana bench signaling for a replay on a prior call. Clark stepped up from her seat and appeared to tell Bonner to head back to her side. Bonner fired back. Teammates stepped in, guiding Bonner toward the Mercury huddle as words kept flying. Play resumed without further incident.
Clark’s competitive edge was hard to miss. She didn’t have a timetable to return, but she didn’t hide from the moment either. From the Fever bench, she stayed vocal throughout, reacting to calls and possessions as if she were on the floor. The exchange lasted only seconds, yet it captured the temperature of a tight game and a tighter playoff race.
Bonner made her presence count where it mattered most: the scoreboard. The veteran put up 19 points and four rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench, steadying Phoenix during a choppy second half. The Mercury moved to 26-14, already locked into the postseason. Indiana slipped to 21-20 and held onto eighth—good enough for the last playoff spot, but with no room to drift.
Officials kept control. No technicals were assessed off the exchange, and both teams returned to business when the horn sounded. Still, cameras caught the jawing, and the energy in the building turned up a notch. For Phoenix, it was a veteran team doing veteran things—closing late and keeping emotions from spilling into the game plan.
A complicated history and real stakes ahead
There’s more underneath this than a stray sideline spat. Bonner briefly joined the Fever in the offseason, then requested her release after nine games, citing fit issues with the organization. She later landed back with the Mercury, where she played the first 10 seasons of her career. That move stung in Indiana, which had made a push to bring her in. Tensions between Bonner and Clark didn’t start here either. The two exchanged words in a playoff series last season when Bonner was with the Connecticut Sun and had to be separated.
Tuesday’s moment felt like a fresh chapter in that story. Clark—out with a groin injury and not yet cleared to play—wasn’t just spectating. She was drawing lines around Indiana’s bench and sending a message. Bonner, a multiple-time All-Star who thrives on emotion, didn’t back down. Neither player had the ball. Both tried to own the space around them.
Indiana needs the temperature to help, not hurt, in the days ahead. The Fever sit eighth with only three regular-season games left—against the Chicago Sky, Washington Mystics, and Minnesota Lynx. That’s a tricky stretch: Chicago and Washington are stubborn and familiar, and Minnesota can bury opponents in five minutes if you let them. If Clark remains out, Indiana’s margin is razor-thin.
What can the Fever control? A few things, immediately:
- Composure in tight possessions: keep late-game fouls and empty trips to a minimum.
- Turnovers: protect the ball and avoid fueling opponent runs.
- Bench minutes: get reliable scoring from second units to bridge cold spells.
- Defensive glass: end possessions cleanly to stop momentum swings.
The Fever have been scrappy all year, and the record shows it. But scrappy alone won’t get you through the final week. Indiana needs sharper fourth quarters and a cleaner shot diet, especially without its lead guard orchestrating.
For Phoenix, this was the kind of win that confirms the plan. The Mercury already have their spot, and the rotation looks comfortable with Bonner giving punch off the bench. That’s a luxury in a league where depth can decide a series. They didn’t overreact to the sideline noise, and they found clutch buckets when it mattered.
Bench decorum moments happen in the WNBA, but they usually carry a message: we’re here, and we’re not stepping aside. That’s what this looked like—a veteran star crossing paths with a rising face of the league, each testing the other’s space. Neither side will forget it soon.
The Fever’s path is simple and brutal: win enough of the next three to survive. The Sky, Mystics, and Lynx each present a different problem, and tiebreakers can swing fast this late in the season. If Clark returns, the tone of Indiana’s offense changes in an instant. If she doesn’t, they’ll need to bottle the fire from the bench and turn it into points. The Mercury, meanwhile, can fine-tune matchups and minutes with the bracket in mind. For one night, though, the moment that lingered wasn’t a buzzer-beater. It was a stare-down that told you exactly how much is on the line.