Indiana Fever (9-22) at Atlanta Dream (11-20)

Date: Saturday, August 26, 2017
Time: 6:00 p.m. (EDT)
Site: McCamish Pavilion (Atlanta, GA)
TV: none
Live Stream: WNBA League Pass

Probable Starters
Fever: F- Jazmon Gwathmey, F- Candice Dupree, C- Natalie Achonwa, G- Erica Wheeler, G- Marissa Coleman
Dream: F- Tiffany Hayes, F- Sancho Lyttle, C- Elizabeth Williams, G- Brittney Sykes, G- Layshia Clarendon

The Indiana Fever travel to Atlanta with hopes of winning the season series with the Dream, and at the same time dashing Atlanta’s playoff hopes as the WNBA season enters its final week.

Indiana takes the floor Saturday after sustaining its 15th loss in 17 games, eliminated from playoff contention itself, for the first time in 13 seasons. The last time Indiana failed to make the playoffs, stars in this year’s WNBA rookie class were just 10 years old!

Storylines & Promotion
• Indiana fell 71-50 to New York on Wednesday, scoring just 22 second-half points despite limiting an opponent under 80 points for the first time since July 19. Candice Dupree paced the Fever with 12 points. Jeanette Pohlen-Mavunga and Erica Wheeler each scored 10.

• Pohlen-Mavunga has continued her inspired play of late, taking advantage of playing time due to injuries in the Indiana backcourt. The Stanford grad has absorbed time at point guard with the absence of Briann January, and has averaged 27.8 minutes over the past four games. The league’s top 3-point shooter as a rookie in 2011, Pohlen-Mavunga has hit 6-of-14 3-pointers over those four games, shooting better than 42 percent, and averaged 8.8 points per game.

• A six-time All-Star, Candice Dupree has collected double-digit scoring in 26 of her 30 games in a Fever uniform. She currently ranks in the WNBA’s top 25 in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and minutes per game. She has re-defined the word STEADY for the 2017 Fever, averaging 14.9 points per game. She has routinely scored between 14 and 19 points (17 of 30 games), with highs this season of 31, 26 and 23.

• Atlanta is trying to stave off elimination, and got past Seattle 89-83 in a critical victory Wednesday night. The Dream can be eliminated from playoff consideration with one more loss.

• The Fever and Dream have won against each other on their home floors in 2017. Indiana’s visit to McCamish Pavilion on July 7 was its first game ever inside the Georgia Tech University arena, resulting in an 89-68 Dream victory.

• Indiana has surrendered at least 80 points in 10 of 11 games. The Fever are 9-8 when they score 80 themselves, and winless when they score fewer than 80.

• Indiana remains the WNBA’s top free-throw shooting team, converting 85.1 percent of their attempts this season. The best season in club history reflected an 84.5 percent clip last season. The previous best by a Fever team was 82.2 percent in 2009.

• Indiana will play the rest of the season without three full- or part-time starting guards: Shenise Johnson, Tiffany Mitchell, and Briann January. The WNBA has granted Indiana an emergency hardship, allowing the Fever to sign 6-0 guard Jennie Simms to a 7-day contract. Simms was the nation’s second-leading scorer (26.0ppg) while playing at Old Dominion last winter. She was the 18th overall selection in last April’s WNBA Draft, by Washington. She played 10 games with the Mystics before being waived July 27.