Stephanie White was blunt. What happened to the Indiana Fever in its regular season finale isn’t going to cut it in the WNBA playoffs.
“Minnesota did what we knew that they would do. They came out aggressive. They punched us in the mouth,” Stephanie White, the second-year head coach of the Fever, said. “They're the No. 1 seed for a reason and they showed it tonight. They dictated on both ends of the floor. We didn't really respond.
“We know we got to be better.”
Playing without All-Star forward Aliyah Boston — who was held out when a lingering lower leg injury flared up — the Fever got bulldozed by the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday, Sept. 24, 86-66. Caitlin Clark played 18 minutes and Kelsey Mitchell 22 minutes, and the star-studded backcourt combined
to shoot 4-of-24 from the floor in an abysmal offensive performance.
But the Fever have to put that result in their rearview quickly.
The postseason is here and Indiana, the sixth seed, will face the Las Vegas Aces in an opening round best-of-three series. Against the reigning champs, the Fever can’t afford to have mistakes like they did on Thursday night. In a wire-to-wire win for the Lynx, Indiana shot 16% from 3-point land — its lowest single-game mark of the season.
With or without Boston in the postseason, Indiana has to fire on all cylinders if they want to breakthrough and reach the Finals. The team that owns the league’s best 3-point shooting percentage at 39.3% and leads the WNBA in scoring has to lean on what’s got them to this point and forget about past results.
“Everybody's record is zero and zero. You're going into the playoffs. Like, if you sit and sulk about what happened tonight — yeah, it sucks, but it is what it is,” Clark said. “We didn’t make shots. … Felt like we got really good looks and they just didn't go down.”
The good news for the Fever is the Aces have been a solid matchup this season. Indiana is 2-1 against Las Vegas and the lone loss came by two points in overtime. Both of Indiana’s wins in the regular season series came in Las Vegas, where they’ll open the postseason.
One of those victories also came without Clark, who was sidelined with an injury. And Mitchell — who is second in the WNBA in scoring this season with 24.7 points per game — has been awesome against the Aces, averaging 27.3 points and 3.3 assists per game in those matchups.
“This team is built with champions,” said veteran reserve Myisha Hines-Allen, who won a title with the Washington Mystics in 2019. “It's like the little details that matter, and we got to continue to like harp on that. We're not gonna win it all in one game. It's a series. We got three series coming up, but we got to take it one game at a time. I think everyone knows what it takes to win.”
Hines-Allen is part of a crucial collection of role players the Fever have been able to lean on this season in big moments. That group also includes Makayla Timpson, Lexie Hull, Monique Billings, Ty Harris, Raven Johnson and Sophie Cunningham — the latter of whom ranks seventh in the WNBA in 3-point shooting this season with a 41.9% clip.
Harris, it’s worth noting, left the loss to the Lynx early with what the team called a left ankle injury.
Perhaps an X factor for the Fever’s playoff success, especially if Boston misses any additional games, could be Timpson. The second-year forward from Florida State was elevated to the starting lineup on Aug. 8 and the Fever are 9-3 since. Across that stretch, Timpson is averaging 9.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
Timpson has given the Fever a rim-protecting presence on defense and efficiency on offense. The 6-foot-2 forward ranks 18th in total blocks and leads the WNBA in field goal percentage this year at 64.1%.
“Her timing is like right on. I mean, it is on point. She gives us the ability to to throw the ball up to someone that we've just never had. She gives us the ability defensively to cross match at times, to use her athleticism differently than we have before at that position. And she rebounds the ball,” White said of Timpson. “You guys see her when she leaps. It's like, I don't know why she doesn't dunk it. Seems like she's right there every time. She's just a freak of an athlete and she's only going to get better.”
A year ago, without Clark and with Timpson still finding her way in the WNBA, the Fever made the semifinals of the playoffs before losing in five games to the Aces. With the superstar guard in the backcourt and a newfound reliable presence in the frontcourt, can the Fever take the next step?
Anything can happen in the playoffs.
And Clark is amped up about the possibilities.
“Got to buy in. You know? I'm excited. If you can't get up for the playoffs, then you probably shouldn't be on this team,” Clark said. “I think that's the great thing about it — look at one-through-eight in this league right now, it's anybody's to take. For us, we have to have the mentality going into the playoffs of ‘Let's go steal the first one.’ One game at a time.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Caitlin Clark, Fever can still upset the Aces despite an ugly regular-season finale
