NEW YORK CITY — For almost three quarters, the Indiana Fever were living up to their potential defensively.
At the Barclays Center, the Fever held the Liberty to just 37 points in the first half. Then, they allowed eight points through the first seven minutes of the third quarter. Indiana was up 12 with three minutes left in the third and looking like they could run away with the game
But after that, their defense began breaking down. The Fever’s 12-point lead turned into an eight-point loss, 83-75, as Indiana dropped to 5-5 on the season and 1-1 in Commissioner’s Cup play.
It started as New York amped up its defense — the Liberty trapped Aliyah Boston, stripping the ball from her for a wasted possession, then started executing a full-court press that gave the Fever offense issues. New York went on a 9-0 run through the final three minutes of the third, cutting what was a 12-point lead for Indiana to three points.
And the issues didn’t stop.
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Indiana, which had a strong defensive game against Atlanta on Thursday, broke down and went back to bad defensive habits. They allowed clear lanes to the basket, couldn’t defend without fouling, and allowed 23 free throws in the fourth quarter alone.
Caitlin Clark picked up three fouls in the first four minutes of the fourth, with her fifth coming around the 6:26 mark. That forced her to sit until around the three-minute mark in the fourth, keeping the Fever’s best offensive weapon on the bench as New York went on a 17-4 run.
Those fouls, too, weren’t even any that Clark disagreed with. They were just foolish mistakes in the moment.
“I think sometimes I’m doing my best, keeping my hands out, and like, there were a couple that were just dumb tonight, and that’s on me,” she said. “I can’t do those, especially the one on Satou (Sabally) early in the fourth quarter, I didn’t expect her to go into her motion, and I was kind of just going for the ball.”
Myisha Hines-Allen picked up her fifth foul shortly after Clark with four minutes left, and Boston picked up her fifth on the Fever’s next defensive possession with 3:36 left. Those fouls not only gave New York a bevy of free throws in the fourth quarter, but affected how they were able to defend.
“We’ve got to do a better job collectively as a team,” Fever coach Stephanie White said of the Fever’s foul trouble. “I mean, there were a couple of those where we had opportunities to plug gaps because the person we were guarding was behind the play, and we got impatient. We didn’t help her out, we didn’t plug the gap.”
Sometimes, the Fever’s offensive strengths can outweigh their defensive inefficiencies. But that wasn’t the case Saturday night, either. Indiana missed 11 layups, including five in the final seven minutes of the game as New York started to pull away.
“It was not a pretty game,” White said. “I felt like, in spite of that, we gave ourselves opportunities, but it’s really tough. I mean, we missed 11 layups. It’s really tough when you’re missing those kinds of shots to get back in transition defense. It’s momentum killers at times.”
Indiana has shown spurts of effective defense throughout the season and put it all together against Atlanta last week. But the Fever will need to be much more consistent offensively, both in denials and managing to defend without fouling, to compete with the top teams 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: Indiana Fever had too many ‘momentum killers’ while blowing 12-point lead in loss to Liberty
Reporting by Chloe Peterson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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By Chloe Peterson, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
