INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever have handled adversity all season lengthy, dropping star Caitlin Clark and 4 others to season-ending accidents and every time discovering methods to rally after being knocked down. Trailing 0-1 in its best-of-three first-round collection towards the Atlanta Dream, the group wanted to reply with its finest effort but to stave off elimination.
The Fever did simply that Tuesday evening, making a press release that they are not finished but with a 77-60 throttling of the No. 3-seeded Dream. Indiana, the No. 6 seed, led wire-to-wire and jumped forward by as many as 24.
“This group has continued to point out their coronary heart and their character, evening in and evening out,” Indiana coach Stephanie White mentioned.
The Fever gave the group at Gainbridge Fieldhouse an evening to recollect of their first dwelling playoff recreation since 2016. They snapped a nine-season streak with out a playoff win, the second-longest drought in WNBA historical past, and marked the franchise’s second-largest postseason victory when going through elimination.
“We knew they’d come out and be aggressive,” Atlanta coach Karl Smesko mentioned. “They have been resilient all yr.”
Below the WNBA’s new 1-1-1 playoff format, the winner-take-all Sport 3 for a spot within the semifinals might be held Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Atlanta, with the beginning of the semifinals looming on Sunday.
“Our backs had been undoubtedly towards the wall on this, and we all know that we have simply been by a lot this season,” Fever star Aliyah Boston mentioned. “Popping out with this win after which giving ourselves one other likelihood in Sport 3, feelings are excessive.”
The Fever took management on the finish of the third quarter behind a 7-0 run within the remaining 44 seconds of the body. A late 3-pointer from Lexie Hull off a steal put Indiana up 15 and despatched the Gainbridge crowd and Fever bench into the loudest frenzy of the night.
The Fever constructed off that momentum to begin the fourth, finally stringing collectively a 27-7 run that put the sport away.
“We’ve got seen our group have lapses from recreation to recreation,” mentioned Mitchell, who had a game-high 19 factors. “I felt good about the truth that we responded once we had been speculated to.”
After an 80-68 Sport 1 loss by which they collapsed down the stretch, the Fever asserted their will on each ends Tuesday evening. The group discovered extra success offensively than on Sunday, with Aliyah Boston (15 factors) and Natasha Howard (12) becoming a member of Mitchell in double figures. Indiana additionally transformed eight 3s after being held to 2 on Sunday.
The Fever shined defensively, too, holding Atlanta to its second-lowest level whole in a recreation this season, in addition to 5-for-19 capturing from 3-point vary. High guards Rhyne Howard and Allisha Grey had been restricted to a mixed 19 factors on 7-for-25 capturing.
“They had been aggressive defensively,” Smesko mentioned. “They had been tremendous bodily. … We will must shoot it higher, however we have quite a lot of actually gifted offensive gamers, and I feel we’ll get it going subsequent recreation.”
In Sport 3, the Fever could have the prospect to safe their first playoff collection victory since 2015; for the Dream, it might be their first since 2018.
“I’ve obtained quite a lot of confidence on this group,” Smesko mentioned. “I actually imagine we’ll play our greatest recreation within the collection subsequent recreation.”
Added White: “This can be a group that is confidence has actually by no means wavered. We have been in each type of state of affairs you may think about, and we have been capable of finding methods to place ourselves in place to win. And this might be no completely different.”