INDIANAPOLIS — With about five minutes left in the game on Thursday night, the Indiana Fever had fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on their feet.
Even with Caitlin Clark on the bench for a long stretch because of foul trouble, the Fever managed to mount a comeback against the Atlanta Dream. Fueled by Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, the Fever went on a 13-4 run, cutting the deficit to zero as they tied the game at 93 points.
The tying basket, a reverse layup from Sophie Cunningham, forced Dream coach Karl Smesko to take a timeout with 5:08 left in the game.
“I thought that group really dug in on the defensive end of the floor, got stops, we rebounded it well, and we moved it on offense,” Fever coach Stephanie White said after the 108-101 loss. “We made it a little bit more difficult because the ball got side-to-side. We got some higher quality looks and knocked them down.”
Buy 2026 Indiana Fever tickets!
But the Fever couldn’t maintain that for the rest of the game.
The Dream ended up going on a 13-6 run over the next 4.5 minutes, pulling away from the Fever right after they worked to tie up the game. All of those shots came in the paint, showcasing Atlanta’s ability to get to the rim — and Indiana’s inability to defend it.
So, the tie game with five minutes left turned into a seven-point win for the Dream, snapping Indiana’s four-game win streak.
“You want a great team to take tough shots, and I think we kind of lapsed in that area,” Kelsey Mitchell said. “… We let them be active, I think that kind of shot us in the foot a little bit. It was always hard to catch up.”
The Fever had no qualms offensively, shooting 56% from the field and 47% from 3-point range. Clark finished with 26 points and seven assists, while Mitchell matched with 26 and Boston had 23 points and eight rebounds.
The problem came in the fact that Indiana wasn’t able to string together stops or defend without fouling. The Dream shot 54% from the field and 39% from 3-point range, went 27 of 35 from the free-throw line, and scored 20 points off the Fever’s 17 turnovers.
“I think in transition they got easy ones,” Clark said. “… essentially everybody on their team shot over 50%, so it’s really hard to win a basketball game when that’s the case.”
Atlanta’s frontcourt, consisting of Angel Reese (21 points, 11 rebounds), Naz Hillmon (17 points) and Rhyne Howard (16 points), took advantage of their size, scoring 54 points combined. Overall, the Dream scored 60 of their points in the paint, dominating the entire game inside.
“I thought we let them get to the rim too easily,” White said. “That was pretty much the story of when we had our defensive failings, it was our one-on-one D. We tried to wait until they caught the ball to defend. We didn’t make it difficult for them to pass the ball around the perimeter, and they’re fast when they catch it on the run to attack our feet.”
In past games, the Fever haven’t had issues closing the fourth quarter. It’s been the opposite, actually, with the Fever giving up double-digit leads against mid-tier teams like Connecticut, Chicago, and Washington before firing back and taking the win in what had become a nailbiter.
When playing against top teams like Atlanta, though, Indiana will need to learn how to keep its intensity up for all 40 minutes. That’s how the Fever can truly become a contender in the league.
Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at chloe.peterson@indystar.com or follow her on X at @chloepeterson67. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter. Subscribe to IndyStar TV: Fever for in-depth analysis, behind-the-scenes coverage and more.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Dream paint picture of Indiana Fever defensive issues: ‘We kind of lapsed’
Reporting by Chloe Peterson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Chloe Peterson, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
