The Indiana Fever opened up their season a month in the past, with a sport in opposition to the Connecticut Solar. 4 days in the past, the groups met for the third time this 12 months. So it ought to make sense to match the 2 video games, simply to see how—and if—the Fever have made progress throughout these 12 video games, proper?
On the floor, issues don’t look too good; the Fever misplaced 89-72, scoring another level than they did on opening evening, whereas permitting the Solar to attain three fewer factors. Connecticut, although, took it mild in the course of the second half. Within the first half, they scored 55 factors, punctuated by a 16-4 run to shut out the second quarter. Total, it seems nothing a lot has modified. The Fever are dangerous defensively.
On the offensive finish, issues additionally don’t look good. Caitlin Clark didn’t rating a single basket within the second half. Head coach Christie Sides simply took her out of the sport, limiting time on the courtroom to 22 minutes in whole. When was the final time she performed simply 22 minutes throughout a sport? On February 12, 2023 in a blowout win in opposition to Rutgers. She was taken off the courtroom as a result of, as defined by Sides, the workforce was down by 28 factors and Clark was in foul bother. Through the postgame press convention, earlier than anyone requested a single query, Sides stated:
At this degree you may’t coach effort and I felt like we had been simply attempting to ask them to maintain enjoying arduous. You possibly can’t begin there, you may’t play on this league if it’s important to coach effort.
The syntax was a bit tortured, however the message was clear: The gamers want to indicate her that they care. In the event that they don’t, it should deliver forth a neccessary shake up, both within the rotation or roster-wise. Nevertheless, Sides’ squad did reply on Thursday, successful 91-84 in opposition to the Atlanta Dream.
Aliyah Boston was large, enjoying by way of contact and attending to the basket for straightforward factors. In opposition to the Dream, she confirmed perseverance, management and emotion, speaking to the referees and igniting her teammates. Though Indiana as soon as led by 18 factors, Atlanta rallied to tie the sport at 77 late within the fourth quarter. This was when Boston stepped up and carried her workforce to the win. Clark continued to feed her the ball, which allowed the middle to attain a game-high 27 factors. She additionally grabbed 13 boards. Kelsey Mitchell scored a season-high 24 factors. Katie Lou Samuelson was nice off the bench, going 3-of-4 from 3-point land. What’s most essential, the Fever performed protection when it counted probably the most, forcing two shot clock violations in a row to fend off the Dream’s comeback.
With Commissioner’s Cup play now full, the Fever will host the Chicago Sky on Sunday (12 p.m. ET, CBS) and the Washington Mystics on June 19 (7 p.m. ET, LeaguePass). We’ll see if they’ll keep the momentum and the vitality from their win over the Dream.
