By Madie Chandler | FeverBasketball.com
The Indiana Fever – now winners of three straight, and four straight in Gainbridge Fieldhouse – are quietly building an unbreakable chemistry that is fueling their recent success.
Indiana was the victor in a midweek matchup with the Mystics, defeating Washington 88-81. NaLyssa Smith, Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, and Caitlin Clark combined for 73 of those 88 points on a combined 25-for-42 from the field.
The Fever quartet was firing early, and three of Indiana’s starters entered halftime already with double-digit point totals. Smith and Mitchell tallied 11 points each and Boston battled to 10 of her own. Clark followed closely with nine points, and grabbed eight of the Fever’s 18 rebounds in the first two frames.
The ball continued to pop around down the stretch as Clark and Mitchell each buried late fourth quarter 3-pointers to keep Indiana’s lead alive. Playing to one another’s strengths, the Fever’s guard-to-guard actions between Clark and Mitchell shifted Washington’s defense and let Smith and Boston get to efficient spots down low.
Mitchell and Boston each finished with 22 points, followed by Clark’s 18, and supplemented with Smith’s 11. In each of their five previous wins the Fever have had four double-digit scorers.
Wednesday’s victory makes six.
It’s no coincidence that Indiana wins when the ball hops around, and it’s moving well in recent outings. The Fever are getting comfortable with the grind of the season, and its stars are sharing the spotlight.
“You’ve got to know your team,” Mitchell said. “You’ve got to know the people you’re playing with. You’ve got to know what spots they like…you’ve got to know where they’re most comfortable, where they’re uncomfortable…We are starting to master how to play with each other and I think once we kind of seal the deal with that, then it’ll be hard for people to stop us.”
This Fever team has experienced its fair share of adversity – Indiana’s early season schedule was the toughest in the WNBA. The Fever went just 1-8 in May but they’re off to a hot start in June, boasting a 5-2 record.
“Our goal is to get back to the playoffs and we’re fighting for that every single night,” Clark said. “…We had the hardest schedule to start. We didn’t get to practice much and we’re playing with the most inexperienced team in the WNBA…I think we all kept a good perspective on knowing we just need to get better one step at a time and that’s where we’re going to continue to do.”
The improvement is tangible – Indiana has the second-best offensive rating in the WNBA over its last five games. The Fever are 4-1 in that span, and with the worst stretch of the schedule behind them, they look to keep showing signs of improvement.
“I think we’ve already seen our lull and what it looks like,” Mitchell said. “And I think it took us up a couple notches, which is a great thing.”
The balance of talent on a team including two No. 1 overall picks and two No. 2 overall selections is challenging, but the Fever are finding a rhythm with their quartet of stars. Mitchell and Boston both took 11 shots against the Mystics, Clark took 12, and Smith took 8. The even spread of offense is a reflection of trust in each other, trust that came out of that early season adversity.
“It was a challenge for them,” coach Christie Sides said. “Just to show up every day, not having success, going 1-8. That’s really hard to do…Asking them to just stick with it. Let’s just keep getting better, keep improving. And to me, that is what I am the most proud of. They kept showing up and we just keep improving.”
Indiana travels to Atlanta to take on the 6-7 Dream on Friday, hoping to extend the three-game win streak to four. Its matchup with Atlanta also marks the beginning of a five-game road trip in which Indiana’s young core will test its endurance against the best of the WNBA. The Fever will return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse on July 7th to defend their four-game home win streak.