close
close

first Drop

Com TW NOw News 2024

    • Against champions, Fever know where they need to improve for the play-offs
    news

    Against champions, Fever know where they need to improve for the play-offs

    Vaseline Posted on

    play

    INDIANAPOLIS — For the first time in the 2024 season, the Indiana Fever found themselves on the wrong end of a sweep. The Fever lost 78-74 to the Aces on Friday night and are now 0-4 against Las Vegas this season.

    But this game was the most encouraging one yet. The Fever trailed the back-to-back reigning WNBA champions by as many as 13 points. But they kept it to a one-point game late in the fourth quarter, a rimless 3-point attempt with 30 seconds left to tie the game.

    But it wasn’t enough.

    “We stayed calm enough to come back in every game, and that just shows you what kind of group you’re dealing with,” Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell said. “So I can give ourselves a pat on the back for not giving up, but not giving up, just not enough. So I think we just have to go back to the drawing board and put in the work.”

    It was a frustrating first half for the Fever, as a seemingly constant whistle disrupted the flow of the game. Additionally, Fever center Aliyah Boston was elbowed in the face (which was not called a foul) and had to briefly return to the locker room.

    Fever rookie Caitlin Clark received her sixth technical foul of the season in the first quarter for hitting the upright after disagreeing with her second foul. She knew it would be called, she said, but her frustration grew; she didn’t score in the first half and received a third foul in the second quarter, forcing her to sit out the final minutes of the half.

    It was the second time this season she was given a technical foul for touching the upright.

    “They’re never going to take that back. It’s just one of the rules. . . It is what it is,” Clark said after the game. “I tried to get my last line taken out, and they didn’t take it out. . . I guess I could have controlled my emotions a little bit better, but at the same time, really? So I don’t know. I mean, it’s a rule, so they have to call it. I get it. It’s just, it’s tough.”

    The Fever went into halftime trailing by just eight points, thanks to Mitchell’s 19 first-half points (no other player scored more than five).

    play

    Caitlin Clark on her sixth technical foul of the WNBA season

    The Fever rookie was given her sixth technical foul of the season against the Las Vegas aces on Friday night

    They saw improvement on the defensive end in the second half, holding the Aces to under their 86-point average; it was the first time a Fever opponent had scored under 85 and Indiana still lost. But the Fever came from behind throughout the second half, trading baskets and simply couldn’t make a run.

    Much of that was self-inflicted, too. Indiana (19-19) wasn’t as disciplined as it should have been, hitting an uncharacteristic 11 of 20 free throws to leave nine points on the table.

    “I think a sense of focus, I think we can play a little more defensively, and I think discipline on both ends of the court will help,” Mitchell said. “Being in the right positions, knowing the personnel. I think all of that plays a role in, you know, being a playoff team and making a playoff run. I think we’re doing a pretty good job of taking what we’ve learned on film and, you know, going to the games. But I think at the end of the day, it comes down to being a complete pro.”

    Indiana, with most of its players new to the playoffs, used this two-game back-to-back against Las Vegas as a simulation of a best-of-three first-round series. Of course, it didn’t end in their favor.

    The Fever won’t play the Aces in the first round of the playoffs, but a simulation of this series against back-to-back champions is a good gauge of where they stand and where they need to improve the most.

    “We’re going to learn something from this,” Sides said. “We made it a playoff series, you know, so now we’re going home having just lost two games. So we’ve got to regroup and figure out what we can do to get better.”

    The Fever have two games left in the regular season: Sunday at home against Dallas before closing with an away game on Thursday at Washington.

    Vaseline
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like