The Indiana Fever were so close to a comeback against the league-leading Minnesota Lynx on Sunday afternoon at Target Center.
Indiana was down by 14 points with seven minutes left in the game, but it surged on a 14-2 run, including a key block from Makayla Timpson that led to a 3-pointer from Aliyah Boston, to get within two points with two minutes left.
It was a surge that the Fever, who played late on Friday night in Portland then traveled to Minneapolis overnight, desperately needed for some late-game momentum. They were showing that even against a well-rested and elite Lynx team, that they could compete with the best of them.
Then, they started making some mistakes. Boston hesitated on a 3-pointer, getting called for a travel. Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark missed crucial 3-pointers, and the Fever couldn’t corral a rebound that ended with a pivotal putback for Minnesota.
That comeback then became what could’ve been in a 108-100 loss to Minnesota to break Indiana’s five-game win streak.
Still, there are things the coaching staff can take from a near comeback against the best team in the league.
“We have big shot-makers on our team, giving them opportunities to knock down shots, and they did,” Fever coach Steph White said of the Fever’s late run. “It’s a resilient group, and to be able to come back on the road with the tight turnaround like we had to be able to find it in the fourth quarter, to give ourselves an opportunity to put ourselves in position to win, I’m really proud of them for that.”
Defense wasn’t much of an emphasis for either team Sunday afternoon; Minnesota and Indiana scored a league-record 69 combined points in the first quarter, per ESPN Insights.
Indiana has shown, with six straight games scoring in triple digits, that it is able to shoot nearly any opponent out of the gym. They haven’t been great defensively, but a lot of the time, they don’t need to be. Take in point the 110-107 win over Seattle on July 17, the 105-95 win at Seattle on July 28, or the 112-98 win at Portland on July 31.
But this defense has still been the Fever’s Achilles heel all season, and it leaves them no room for any offensive lapses. After all, they are the first team in WNBA history to have five games that they’ve scored 100 or more points and lost.
Minnesota got advantages on the slimmest of margins on Sunday; they had nine second-chance points on four offensive rebounds in the first half and finished with 11 offensive boards and 16 second-chance points. That, alone, accounts for the eight-point difference. Rookie Olivia Miles also had a field day against the Fever, scoring 23 points in the first half and finishing with 28.
“I think we’re just a little bit of a step slow,” Clark said of the Fever’s defense postgame. “At times we did get stops, and then we just shot ourselves by not actually going to get the ball, whether it’s a 50-50 ball, whether it’s an offensive rebound or defensive rebound. But we had moments, and you’ve got to give us credit, we found a way to fight. I thought our second-half defense was a lot better.”
Indiana’s offense is the best in the league with a 115.6 offensive rating (points per 100 possessions). Its defensive rating, however, sits at 10th in the league at 108.4.
No doubt, the Fever have the offensive firepower to win a championship this year. They just need their defense to catch up.
Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at chloe.peterson@indystar.com. 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: Loss to Lynx shows what Fever need to address to compete for WNBA title
Reporting by Chloe Peterson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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By Chloe Peterson, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
