INDIANAPOLIS — Tensions between the Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury exploded in the fourth quarter Monday and the ensuing entanglement of players resulted in a flurry of offsetting technicals and added further juice to what’s quickly become one of the league’s most bitter rivalries.
Fever superstar Caitlin Clark and Mercury veteran DeWanna Bonner were at the center of the inciting incident.
Clark fouled Bonner a couple minutes into the fourth quarter. Her former teammate took exception and aggressively pulled her arm away, drawing the ire of Clark, who began chirping her as she walked toward the baseline.
A referee moved quickly to separate the two as seas of blue and white jerseys began gathering around their respective teammates, and aside from some stray jawing between Bonner and Clark, it appeared the situation had been successfully defused.
The fireworks were just beginning.
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Bonner walked off, Clark engaged with the fans, pumping up the already raucous crowd of 15,198 … and Fever forward Myisha Hines-Allen lingered in the lane, standing nose-to-nose with Alyssa Thomas.
Valeriane Ayayi attempted to play peacemaker for the visitors, escorting Alyssa Thomas toward midcourt as a fired-up Clark clapped in their direction.
Asked for her perspective on the incident following the Fever’s 86-77 win, Thomas said simply: “We’re OK.”
The first technical foul was called on Clark, whose visceral reaction was to be expected. As she furiously argued with the referees, another fracas was unfolding a few feet away with Hines-Allen caught between Sophie Cunningham and Bonner, who were jawing and pointing at one another.
Cunningham walked to the far sideline, her arm extended and finger pointing directly at Bonner as she returned to the Phoenix sideline.
The entire incident lasted about 10 minutes and resulted in five technical fouls: offsetting in fractions on Thomas, Bonner and Hines-Allen, plus the additional one on Clark.
Asked his perspective on the fracas, Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts replied: “I’m not sure. I’ll have to look at the film.”
This is not the first time things hit the fan between the Fever and Mercury.
But unlike last season when Bonner’s abrupt departure built tensions toward an eventual eruption when the teams played one another, Monday’s incident was a flashpoint.
“I got a lot coming at me, I don’t — I don’t always see (everything),” Tibbetts said when asked if he felt emotions building to the brouhaha. “Sometimes I can feel it and see it. Again, (it is) two competitive teams going at it. Stuff like that happens.”
Asked the same question, Cunningham cheekily replied: “Could you?”
“That’s professional sports,” she continued. “Sometimes things get chippy and that’s OK. It’s OK for women to stand their ground a little bit and to have some extra-curriculars at times, because you have to stand your ground. We’re not worried about that. We need to focus on winning the ball game, focus on what we can do better defensively moving forward. All that is just — it’s going to happen, you gotta take care of it, but also you need to keep your heads and move forward.”
Adding to the drama: The Fever and Mercury are set to play again Wednesday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
“We’ve got a competitive group, a veteran group, they’ve been around this for a long time and they’re not afraid of the smoke,” Tibbetts said. “We’re going to compete at a high level and yeah, just keep (moving forward), just stay with it; keep playing.”
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: What did the Phoenix Mercury think of incident with Fever? ‘Not afraid of the smoke’
Reporting by Brian Haenchen, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Brian Haenchen, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
