UNCASVILLE, Connecticut – The experience advantage was clearly visible: The Connecticut Sun have played a total of 222 playoff games, while the Indiana Fever have only played 19.

Despite all the hurdles the young Fever had to overcome in their breakout year, recovering from a 2-9 start to field the league’s best offense over the final three quarters of the season, they couldn’t speed up their early pains and showed their youth in a 93-69 loss at Mohegan Sun Arena in the first game of their first round.

Sun coach Steph White said Connecticut got stronger as the game went on. But Indiana faltered. A 10-2 first-half spurt decided the game that had been tied, and the Fever were never within one possession again, failing even to close the gap to single digits in the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t play well,” said Caitlin Clark. “We didn’t play at the level we were capable of.”

The story of Indiana’s season is about the Fever’s decline and attempt to get back on their feet. The problem is, they have to go down first.

“We can win… I have the utmost confidence in this team.”

Caitlin Clark before Game 2. pic.twitter.com/In7oz0EMoO

— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) 22 September 2024

Connecticut was able to help that process. The Sun knew what the transition from the regular season to the postseason would entail. Rather than give Indiana time to settle in and then adjust, Connecticut preemptively changed its strategy, even though they had gone 3-1 against the Fever in the regular season and mostly kept Clark at bay. Rather than pressuring Clark and letting Indiana play four-on-three after getting rid of the ball, the Sun sent DeWanna Bonner out to do that defensive task, and the 15-year veteran delivered a masterful performance against the rookie.

Bonner didn’t let Clark get to her left for her step-back jump shot, and her length thwarted Clark’s attempts to drive. The result was a 4-of-17 shooting percentage from the field, including 2-of-13 from beyond the arc, giving Indiana its lowest point total since July 2. Clark continued to try to shoot herself out of her slump rather than score in other ways, but the ball wouldn’t cooperate.

“My shot felt just right,” Clark said. “That’s why it’s so frustrating for a shooter when it feels so good but doesn’t go in.”

Those frustrations weren’t evident for the Sun, who made nearly 50 percent of their field goals, including 9 of 18 threes. More than half of those threes came from reserve Marina Mabrey, who was covering Clark. The rookie compounded her offensive woes by making defensive lapses that freed Mabrey from long range.

It took Mabrey a few weeks to find her role in Connecticut’s offense, but she’s been comfortable since then, shooting 42.4 percent of her threes since the transfer. Her performance was emblematic of the entire team, as everyone knew exactly what they needed to do to emerge victorious.

Bonner defended Clark and was a failure on offense, using her size and speed to get away from Lexie Hull. DiJonai Carrington stuck with Kelsey Mitchell, disrupting Mitchell’s offense and forcing turnovers. Brionna Jones refined her offense and instead focused on the glass, blocking Aliyah Boston and limiting Indiana’s second chances at points.

Alyssa Thomas was the linchpin of it all. After the game, she said she had been waiting for the playoffs all season and Thomas was at her best, causing havoc on defense and then pushing the tempo. White praised Thomas for her aggressive offensive performance as a scorer. Even though she didn’t finish well, Thomas’ attacks on the basket cleared the court for her teammates.

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“They understand the magnitude of what we’re in,” White said of her veterans, especially Thomas and Bonner. “They’ve been through that, they know it takes a different level. You have to be in a different gear, it takes a different level of urgency, and the margin for error is smaller. And I think because they’ve been through that, they understand it and they lead by example. They’ve been all in.”

That’s a state the Fever strive for: one in which they don’t dribble the ball off their feet or struggle to get into a flow due to stoppages outside of their control. A state in which they set the tone for how the game is played rather than trying to adapt to physicality on the fly.

But it was too much to ask that Indiana accomplish that feat in its first round of playoffs, especially against a team that has so much experience both individually and collectively. The Sun gave the Fever no chance. The home team looked like the favorite in every way.

“They know what it takes to get to the next level, to the playoff level,” Fever coach Christie Sides said. “And that’s what we’re going to be, that’s what we’re going to become.”

That transformation could happen as early as Wednesday, as Connecticut’s recent playoff experience since 2022 also includes five consecutive Game 2 losses. Indiana isn’t the only team that needs to improve in the postseason, but in a three-game series, it’s the Fever who are running out of time to learn those lessons.

(Photo of Caitlin Clark and DeWanna Bonner: Joe Buglewicz / Getty Images)