3 hours ago 1

WNBA playoff takeaways: Indiana Fever force decisive Game 3

Near the end of a grinding third quarter, in which whistles and bodies hitting the floor were nearly as common as baskets, the Indiana Fever decided they weren’t ready for their season to end.

Leading by 10 points with less than 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter of Tuesday’s Game 2, Fever center Aliyah Boston muscled up a basket over two Atlanta Dream defenders. Seconds later, Indiana reserve guard Shey Peddy deflected Atlanta’s inbounds pass into the hands of guard Kelsey Mitchell, who found Boston open at the top of the key. Boston swung the ball to guard Lexie Hull, who was uncovered on the left wing and hit her only 3-pointer of the game as the period expired.

In an instant, a 10-point Indiana lead ballooned to 15. Hull bumped chests with Boston and forward Natasha Howard, and she gestured for the Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd to grow louder.

“The energy, everyone felt it,” Boston said. “The crowd was going crazy, and we just used that momentum into the fourth.”

The Fever’s grittiness was on full display in their 77-60 victory, pushing their first-round series against the Dream back to Atlanta for a series-deciding Game 3 on Thursday. The sequence to close the quarter typified Indiana’s night. It was sometimes clunky, but in the end, there were cheers. As a result, Indiana picked up its first playoff win since 2015.

The five-point sprint to close out the third was part of a 15-0 run that stretched across the third and fourth quarters. In a matter of minutes, an eight-point cushion became 23, and the Dream never recovered.

“They made some key plays defensively to get out in transition and get some easy looks,” Dream All-Star center Brionna Jones said. “They came out and they were aggressive. We needed to match that better tonight.”

The Fever’s defense was stifling during the critical run. And their offense showed great balance, as five different players scored during the key stretch — none of them was Mitchell, who finished the win with a game-high 19 points.

Through two games, Indiana’s 3-point defense has been stout. The Dream, who finished the regular season No. 2 in offensive rating, made only three of their first 17 3-pointers before reserve guard Te-Hina Paopao hit two 3s in the final two minutes. That will again be critical in Game 3, when the Fever will look to fluster Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray. The duo combined to score only 19 points after combining for 40 in Game 1.

Dream coach Karl Smesko called the performance “just an off-day.” Fever coach Stephanie White said her team built strengths.

“This is a group that’s confidence has never wavered,” White said. “We’ve been in every kind of situation you can imagine and we’ve been able to find ways to put ourselves in position to win, and (Game 3) will be no different.”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Atlanta Dream, Indiana Fever, WNBA

2025 The Athletic Media Company

Read Entire Article