Indiana Fever are growing up before our eyes
This Fever team is doing what previous ones could not: win ugly. They have a reliable, productive core and are finding new ways to win despite miscues. Career-high 30 points from Aliyah Boston.
Aliyah Boston set a screen for Caitlin Clark at the top of the arc, caught the pass and faked a handoff to Clark. She immediately put it on the floor for two dribbles and scored a game-tying layup with 18.7 seconds left in regulation.
The Indiana Fever then got a stop, which sent them to their first overtime session of the season in game No. 36.
It wasn’t pretty in this turnover-filled performance by the Fever, but they’re showing more signs of growth while demonstrating several new features entering the final two weeks of the regular season.
They’re showing the ability to win despite an imperfect game. To overcome challenges, make in-game adjustments and roll with what’s working.
They’re showing a new core that has emerged and can be trusted: Clark, Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, of course, along with Lexie Hull and Temi Fagbenle. The latter two are getting more playing time and being depended on a lot more.
Hull is guarding opponents’ best guard and making key plays, like securing a key rebound with 14.7 seconds left in overtime. And she’s doing more offensively, shooting better than anyone in the league since the break; she was 4 for 5 from distance in this one.
And then Fagbenle is the experienced veteran that celebrated a birthday on Sunday. Solid defensively, runs the floor and does the dirty work. A player every team needs. (She just needs to stay healthy.)
They’re showing an ability to close games. They kept the Atlanta Dream to four points over the final four minutes of regulation. Closed the game on an 11-4 spurt.
They’re showing the long-term need to add help on defense and off the bench. Four of five starters played at least 40 minutes on Sunday and the non-starters contributed just nine of 104 points. (Fagbenle had all nine.)
The Fever ultimately got the win, 104-100, in front of another sellout crowd (17,274) on Sunday — even more impressive because it was Week 1 of the NFL season. It was their 19th win of the season, surpassing the total from the previous two seasons combined.
“This game showed a lot of growth for our players, especially in the third quarter,” said head coach Christie Sides.
“I challenged him at halftime because we weren't doing what we were, Paul (Miller) had this scout. He had a great game plan and we just weren't executing. We were going under screens we weren't supposed to go under. And then we changed all that. And so it was just a lot of growth by us tonight.”
The Dream led by four at halftime and by as many as 16 points as the Fever turned it over 13 times in 20 minutes; but then, they turned it over just six times the rest of the game. (The Dream had eight turnovers all game.)
“We sometimes get down and we don't always stop the bleeding right away,” Clark said. “But I think the positive is, at the beginning of the season, that was really bad news for us. And 16 turned into 30 or something like that.
“And for now, we just find a way to chip away. And I think at the same time, we have the confidence of knowing what our offense is capable of. And we know what our offense can give. It's just really on defense, getting stops.”
Clark appeared frustrated most of the night — with her play, the lack of offensive flow and the officials, who were issued three coach’s challenges and their original call was overturned all three times.
Most of her turnovers were sloppy and careless. And they need to be addressed.
“I thought a lot of them definitely were a force,” Clark said of her nine giveaways, “whether it was dribbling off a leg, backcourt violation, which was not a backcourt violation, you all saw it. I don't understand, I don't know, but that's not a backcourt violation.”
Clark finished with 26 points, five rebounds and 12 assists for another double-double. These numbers are not easy to come by for any player and are not typical for a rookie. Just another reminder of how special Clark is — and the type of year she’s having. Other rookie Cameron Brink and now Angel Reese suffered season-ending injuries.
Clark also played every second in this 45-minute game — and every minute in two of the last three games. It’s a good thing she’s young (just 22) and that they have two days between games.
Mitchell scored 10 of her 21 points in the first quarter, but it was Boston’s second half that shined most. Her mindset is to dominate, no matter who she is playing.
“I know what I'm capable of,” she said after pouring in a career-high 30 points and 13 rebounds. “And so just continue to come in every single night knowing that they are gonna score and just make it hard for them.
“I feel like Tina Charles, every single time she's played me, she's had 20 on my head, but that's okay. Because I come in again, and I try my hardest, and we come out with the win.”
That’s a better line seen than read because of Boston’s personality and her growing confidence. It’s easy to forget that she’s also just 22, but in her second year.
There was a moment when Clark reminded all of us of their inexperience. Boston was asked if the sellout crowd, with a game that went into overtime, felt like a playoff game.
Boston: “I think every single game when we're competing…”
Clark interrupted and said what many are thinking. “We've never played in a playoff game…”
“I'm sorry to assume,” Boston replied.
“I think they got a little more,” Clark said of the crowd.
Chemistry takes time and cannot be forced. But it has been on the rise significantly since the Olympic break.
This team’s early-season struggles notably overlapped with Boston’s admittedly poor play. Now the Fever have a three-headed attack with Clark, Mitchell and Boston; those three combined for 77 points, which is often enough to win in this league.
And so when the Dream were all over Clark, especially Jordin Canada, and swarming her all game, Boston saw the opening and attacked with authority.
“It's just being able to make the right read,” Boston said of her decisiveness. “When you look at how they're playing, you just have to be able to make the right read. Sometimes they jump out too early because they're assuming that something's gonna happen and just being able to make a move right in that split second is important. Because especially when you have someone like Caitlin who could be getting the ball, they're gonna definitely wanna jump at her. And so just being able to read that and go score.”
Boston was 11 of 16 from the field en route to her 13th double-double of the season. Twenty-two of her 30 points were scored following intermission.
“Late in that game, when we needed to slow down and just run some good offense and put them in a position where they would either foul us or we would get a bucket, we ran some good offense,” Sides said. “We got the ball inside to Aliyah, and she executed what we needed her to. It starts there, and that just opens up everybody else.”
Sides has made it clear that she’s a big proponent on playing inside-out with Boston getting the touches.
Among those in the building: Tyrese Haliburton, player development coach Isaac Yacob, Pacers assistant GM Kelly Krauskopf and assistant coach Jenny Boucek.
Sides appreciated the fan support and late cheers for defense. It’s a message she’s been preaching to her team from the beginning, then reinforced during their monthlong break.
“Maybe we get them to do that start the game or something,” Sides said jokingly. “I don't know. Because that got me pumped up, and we started doing what we were supposed to do. You got to pressure the ball, you got to talk, you're not playing defense. I know it's a cliche quote, but if you're not talking, you're not playing defense. We get really silent when we're not doing what we're supposed to do when people are scoring.”
Offense has never been a problem for this Fever team. It’s occasional sloppy play and poor defense. But they know they can pile up points, especially when they play fast.
And it seems like the team (19-17) sets a new record in each game, at least. That continues because the Fever swept the season series (4-0) with the Dream for the first time in franchise history.
“I think right now we're in a space where we just have to make sure that we're keeping our foot on the gas,” Boston said. “… I'm really proud of us today because we were down (16), but that didn't stop us. We came in timeouts, we talked about what we need to do, we talked about executing, making sure we're getting stops, and then being able to score. And so I think that we're in a good spot, just continue to know that even if we're down, no matter what time of the game it is, we're very capable of coming back.”
Sides referenced one of those stoppages postgame, what she referred to as her “fun timeouts” — the ones specifically called to end runs by the Dream. Pat of the reason four of their five starters were able to play 40+ minutes was because of all the timeouts and three challenges.
During a first-half timeout, Sides reiterated to the team that they’re not satisfied. That they’re not done yet, only just getting started.
“Yeah, it was our goal was to make it to the playoffs, but now what they've shown that they can do, we're not ready to just make that where it lands,” she said. “We can't just play the way we did against Minnesota at times, the way we played against Atlanta at times tonight, to keep improving so we're ready when that playoff push happens, when we get into the playoffs, because we're going to play one of the top teams in the league again, and they have the experience.
“We've got to build that now and we can’t just be satisfied. And I don't think they are. We've just got to find a way to get stops early and get ourselves going early on the defensive end.”
Their next task is a big one. They welcome the Las Vegas Aces, the back-to-back WNBA champions, to The Fieldhouse for a two-game series with games on Wednesday and Friday.
Good break down of how the team made adjustments on defense. I missed the game but it feels like I was there.