-
Alexa Philippou, ESPN
CHICAGO – The first three Indiana Fever-Chicago Sky games have been defined by their competitive nature, with June’s matchup decided by a combined 10 points.
However, that was not the case on Friday, in the fourth and final meeting of the regular season: The Fever (16-16) won 100-81 – and led by 27 – to achieve it. .500 mark for the first time since May 2022, when they were just 2-2. Indiana’s 103-game streak at .500 is the third-longest in WNBA history, per the Elias Sports Bureau.
The last time a franchise was .500 or better in the month of August? This will be 2016, the last season of the legendary Tamika Catching.
On the back of their biggest win of the season, the Fever also secured a season series win over Sky 3-1.
“It feels good to be sitting at .500 right now,” Indiana coach Christie Sides said. “It’s been a long time since the Fever sat at .500. I’m just really proud of where we started.
Indiana has been one of the hottest teams in the league since the Olympic break, improving to 5-1 in that span. By hitting the century mark on Friday — a season high in scoring — the Fever showed once again how they’ve had the league’s best offense since mid-June and how they’ve become one of the most dangerous teams in the WNBA.
Rookie sensation Caitlin Clark was impressive with a career-high 31 points and 12 assists. She became the fifth player in WNBA history with 30 points and 10 assists in a game and the third to reach that stat line in regulation.
Chicago, which is holding Barbie Night in honor of freshman star Angel Reese, has lost five straight games and six of seven in the second half. Michaela Onyenwere and Lindsay Allen paced the Sky with 20 and 19 points respectively.
Here are three takeaways from the contest.
Violation of red-hot fever shows not to let rise
Indiana has the league’s best offensive rating since June 13, and Friday’s performance will only add to that number.
After a slow start and falling behind by 13, fever into the groove with bread and butter: pushing the pace and converting from 3-point arc. Mitchell (23 points) led the charge with 18 points in the first half — his most in a half this season — but he and Clark combined to go 6-for-9 from 3 in the first 20 minutes. It was more the same in the second half, allowing the fever to manage one of the best 3-point shooting nights in the season (13 to 29).
Clark will be in the headlines on the night of his career, but the team is also quick to appreciate the defensive contributions of Temi Fagbenle, who was the team’s best -plus 29 off the bench, Lexie Hull, who continues to take hot shots (3). for 4 from deep) and NaLyssa Smith, whose 11 points third quarter stable fever when Aliyah Boston went to the bench in foul trouble.
Sky skid continues
The Sky had all the momentum early on Friday and created an offensive flow that allowed them to build a 24-11 lead. Coach Teresa Weatherspoon preached the next player mentality going into the game with top scorer Chennedy Carter (health and safety protocol) out, and Allen and Onyenwere answered the call, starting the game a combined 7 for 9 from the field and 3 for 3 from the field. 3-point arc. At the half, where the Sky were down by just five, the two combined for 28 of Chicago’s 42 points.
The end-game execution was a sticking point for Sky in the new game, but there was more than the wheels falling off. The Fever pulled within three at the end of the first, then won the middle of the two quarters by a combined 19 points. Even when Chicago was in the single digits in the third quarter, it never felt like Indiana had really lost control.
As the season continued, Weatherspoon asked his team to be more disciplined on defense, understanding and executing scouts. Allowing 100 points – the most the Sky have allowed all season – and allowing the Fever to get whatever they want offensively is the opposite.
“We have a lot of things to fix, and it starts on the defensive side of the ball,” Weatherspoon said. “We don’t interfere. We let teams take shots where they want, when they want.
“Defense is the hardest thing you’re going to do in this game. In the third quarter, we sent it to the line over and over again.”
Guard Rachel Banham, who joined the team last month in a trade that sent then-top scorer Marina Mabrey to Connecticut, did not continue at the postgame news conference, saying “we just have a lack of effort sometimes.”
“If you’re not motivated to beat ass, we’ve got a problem,” he said. “Then don’t wear the uniform. It feels better on your chest.”
Chicago didn’t have much time to figure things out with a tough road swing. It will play in Minnesota on Friday and in Las Vegas on Friday.
The playoff race just got a little more interesting
Don’t look now, but if the regular season ended today, the Fever would have the sixth seed in the playoffs, as they have a tiebreaker over the Phoenix Mercury who are tied at 16-16.
A lot can still change over the next three weeks, but the notion of the Fever being the sixth seed in the postseason seems a long way off as they begin 2024 with a 1-8 record. The remaining schedule — three games remaining against teams with winning records and two at home — should have Indiana fans feeling comfortable with the team sitting out the playoffs.
Chicago (11-20), meanwhile, stayed alive at the eighth seed amid its worst losing streak of the season. But there is still one game left before the Atlanta Dream, who fell to the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces on Saturday night. The Dream have failed to score against the struggling skies with four straight losses after wins over Storm, Sun and Mercury to start the second round. And with the Wings beating the Lynx, Dallas doesn’t count, as it’s now two games up on Chicago (as is Washington).
A lot can happen in three weeks, but if the Sky want to play at the end of September, they’ll need to resolve these issues quickly before a sixth consecutive postseason berth slips through their fingers.
