'They punched us hard': Short-handed Fever undone by Dream’s size and physicality in Game 1 loss
Indiana had 15 turnovers, struggled from 3-point range, and couldn’t overcome Atlanta’s physical play in an 80-68 defeat. The best-of-three series now shifts to Indy on Tuesday.
COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — The Indiana Fever arrived in Georgia over the weekend with the odds stacked against them. They entered the season as a championship contender, but one thing after another broke against them.
The cards they were dealt were so crummy that if this season were a game of euchre and they had the option to swap with the kitty pile, the Fever would’ve done it well before the halfway mark.
Coincidentally, the last time the Fever faced the Atlanta Dream was right around then, just before the All-Star break — Game 20. A quirk of the WNBA schedule had the Fever facing the Dream four times in their first 20 games, including two of the first three.
Now, both teams look wildly different.
Indiana continues to play the cards they were dealt, and just when it seemed like nothing else could go wrong, another setback arrived last Thursday. On the first day of playoff prep, reserve center Damiris Dantas entered concussion protocol after taking contact in practice.
Just another hurdle the Fever would have to clear. But she’s already been ruled out for Game 2.
“She's a big, important part of what we would do in this series,” Stephanie White said. “So hopefully, she'll be able to progress.”
That left six Fever players in street clothes, unavailable for Game 1 — though they were still trying to help in any way possible, including making their voices heard with officials.
The Dream seized control in the second quarter and never gave it back, going ahead by as many as 16 in Indiana’s 80-68 Game 1 loss.
Turnovers (15) hurt. Allowing 18 second-chance points was unacceptable. And shooting just 2-of-15 from beyond the arc, getting outscored by 15 points, proved to be the nail in the coffin.
In a season where their margin for error had already dwindled, the Fever’s now is gone. Small things continue to add up to costly mistakes.
“It's the ones where we're over-helping or we're losing our guy,” White said of defensive concerns. “We're in rotation where we don't need to be. We're not closed up. We're not aggressive in our switches. All of those things. They're fast, they're long, they make you work throughout entire possessions.”
Some of that is understandable given the depleted roster. Brianna Turner, who hadn’t played much this season, was the only true backup big available. That left her to battle against the Dream’s frontcourt of Bri Jones, Naz Hillmon, and Brittney Griner.
Aerial Powers — called up while overseas — led Indiana’s bench with five points in 18 minutes.
The Fever’s margin for error simply doesn’t exist anymore.
Indiana actually started well, opening on a 15-6 run while hitting six of their first nine shots. But the third-seeded Dream quickly settled in, trimming the deficit to three after one quarter.
“I think our defense was disruptive,” White said. “We made them take tough shots. And offensively, we were able to get the ball moving. We were able to play on both sides of the floor, get some higher percentage looks, get out in transition.”
But rough second and fourth quarters, combined with poor outside shooting and Atlanta’s physicality, buried Indiana. The Fever entered the second up by three, then went into halftime trailing by seven after the Dream closed on a 18-7 run.
Those end-of-second and start-of-third sequences have doomed Indiana all season. In the first quarter alone, the Fever committed six turnovers while holding Atlanta to 30% shooting — but still led by only three.
“We didn't give ourselves a chance defensively, sometimes, to be able to get what we want,” said Kelsey Mitchell. “I think not being able to capitalize on things that make us great, turning the ball over. We shot ourselves in the foot a lot in a lot of different areas that impact being able to make plays and do what you want to do on the offensive end.”
With so many players sidelined, Mitchell has elevated both her voice and her game. She didn’t like how Atlanta punched first — and hardest.