INDIANAPOLIS — The Fever would have never predicted at the beginning of the season that they’d be in this position in late August.
The expectation coming into the year was that they would be competing at the top of the standings. Instead, heading into Tuesday’s game against Seattle, a win was imperative just to remain in the playoff spots late in the season.
The contest marked the start of a string of contests that will go a long way in deciding the fate of the Fever’s postseason hopes. Indiana is currently battling the aforementioned Storm, the Sparks and the Valkyries for the final three spots in the playoffs.
Those three teams make up the next three games on Indiana’s schedule in the coming week. It’s the most important stretch of the season for the Fever, and they started it off in the best way possible.
Led by the trio of Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell and Odyssey Sims — the latest Fever guard to excel on a hardship contract — Indiana cruised to a thoroughly dominated 95-75 win over Seattle.
“It was huge,” head coach Stephanie White said postgame. “I mean, every game at this point in the season is huge and this was a big one for us, We knew that we had to come out and have a sense of urgency. I felt like this was as close to 40 minutes as we’ve put together consistently in a long time. I’m proud of this group.”
Indiana was wobbling heading into this contest, to say the least. After a five-game win streak saw them sit at 17-12 and a half-game out of the No. 4 seed in early August, the Fever had lost six of their last eight games and fell to 19-18. They entered Tuesday just one game up on the Sparks for the eighth and final playoff spot.
In many senses, it was gut-check time for Indiana. They can hardly be blamed for faltering late in the season as Caitlin Clark and Chloe Bibby remain out while Sophie Cunningham, Aari McDonald and Sydney Colson all have suffered season-ending injuries.
It’s been a rotating door of perimeter players joining the roster this season with Sims being the latest to start at point guard. Tuesday was her finest showing for Indiana as she tallied 22 points and six assists in 28 minutes, including a circus 3-pointer in the fourth to cap off her night.
Boston was impressive as well, finishing with 27 points — 10 of those in a decisive third quarter — and nine rebounds. Mitchell had 21 points on a night she also set the single-season franchise record for points.
Indiana was dominant in about every way in the win, highlighted by winning the rebounding battle 42-21 and outscoring the Storm in second chance points 22-4.
But as important as Tuesday’s victory was, it will mean little if the Fever don’t follow it up on Friday in LA and Sunday in San Francisco. As much joy as there was in the win, the prevailing message from the team postgame was that there’s still work to be done.
“This one felt good,” Sims said. “The togetherness that we have offensively and defensively as a group really showed our growth. We’re going to take this momentum into our next game and…we’re going to take it one game at a time, focus on our next opponent, and stay locked in.”
The Fever may not be in the situation they imagined back in May, but they still have to manage the one they’re in. A strong week from the Fever won’t guarantee a playoff berth, but it will make it a far easier feat to accomplish.
Indiana’s upcoming road trip with include the games against the Sparks and Valkyries before finishing up in Phoenix, an arena where they lost by 35 points in their last visit this season. However, they will come home and end the year with games against Chicago and Washington, two teams out of the playoff race, before a finale against a Minnesota team that may well have the top seed clinched and could rest players for the playoffs in the contest.
It’s a favorable close to the regular season for Indiana, making both Tuesday’s win and the upcoming stretch of games all the more important. In a season that will be defined by injuries, this week of games could make it a story of triumphing against them rather than succumbing to them.
“Going into this game, we talked about that this was gonna be a big game for us, considering the standings, where Seattle was,” Aliyah Boston said. “But going into the West Coast trip, right now we’re just gonna be focused on LA. That’s kind of been our motto this entire season is just focus on the game ahead of you. Be where your feet are.
“So, starting tomorrow, we’re going to be looking at LA, but I mean this next string of games is definitely important for us. But we got to take it one game at a time.”
