Playoff Preview: Resilient Fever return to postseason, face Dream in featured matchup
The Fever enter the postseason as the 6 seed once again, opening a best-of-three series against 3-seeded Atlanta on Sunday. And after all they’ve endured, they believe it gives them an edge.
The WNBA playoff teams were set, but the seeding came down to the final game on the final night.
Some members of the Indiana Fever chose to stay up to midnight to learn their first-round opponent, while others waited until morning.
“I rely on our Fever Girls group chat for a lot of things,” said veteran guard Kelsey Mitchell. “Schedule is one of them, and when we play was another one of them.”
After a 24-20 record, the Fever reached the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time in a decade — and once again, they’re the 6 seed. They’ll face 3-seeded Atlanta Dream in Round 1, beginning Sunday.
“It's a good opportunity for us,” Mitchell said. “So it will be challenging, but I think all eight teams are here for a reason.”
All four playoff series begin Sunday and still, it did not come as a surprise that the Fever — even without Caitlin Clark and four other players, all lost to season-ending injuries — are playing in the featured game.
Three of Sunday’s four playoff games will air on ESPN, counter-programmed against the NFL, while the Fever–Dream opener will air nationally on ABC.
Series Schedule
Game 1: Sunday in Atlanta, 3 ET on ABC
Game 2: Tuesday in Indy, 7:30 ET on ESPN
Game 3*: Thursday in Atlanta, time TBD on ESPN
(See the full WNBA schedule at the bottom of the page)
These two teams are not as familiar with each other as you might think — because they haven’t played since July 11.
That was before All-Star break.
They met in the preseason, in two of the first three games, three of the first nine … and all four season meetings were completed by Game 20. Not even halfway into the 44-game schedule.
The Dream have evolved quite a bit, but no team has had to adapt more than the Fever because of their injury situation. Injuries forced their hand.
“I think the big part about us is that because we are different, it give us more of an edge, in my opinion,” said Mitchell, who became the franchise’s first player to average 20 points per game.
“We've had like six different teams, and so they have a lot to obviously scout us. But for us, it’s about keeping the main thing, the main thing. And I think our energy, our effort, and focusing on getting the reps for who we going to play is big for us right now.”
The proverbial chip on their shoulder or playing with an edge if often overplayed. Too often. But not this season, given all they have gone through. Battle scars have made this group tougher and closer.
“I think this year we're just a tighter group,” said guard Lexie Hull. “Because we've gone through so much this season, we're really excited about the opportunity to surprise some people.”
Indiana finished its unprecedented season with three wins in a row and five of their last seven.
“I feel like we did a really good job when it came to our defense, offense,” said Natasha Howard, who has reached the playoffs in 11 of 12 seasons as pro. “Just overall, effort from the starters all the way to the bench, they came in and executed. And we give credit to our coaches too, like how they've worked so hard to get us prepared for each game.
“We're hungry. Even though we had a whole bunch of injuries on this team, we're hungry, we stay together, we fight together no matter what. And we also brought in new pieces that can actually help us out as well. And at the end, we just gonna scare the WNBA.”
Atlanta finished 30-14 under first-year head coach Karl Smesko, doubling its win total from last season. However, this stage will be new to him.
They are led by Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, Bri Jones, and Brittney Griner.
“Their size at most all positions has been a challenge for us,” said Fever coach Stephanie White, who at this time last year was in Connecticut and preparing for a series against Indiana.