How Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark prevailed against Atlanta Dream in overtime
Caitlin Clark on the Fever’s turnovers in the first half against Dream
“A lot of them were definitely unforced, like the leg dribble or a backcourt violation that wasn’t a backcourt violation, you all saw that.”
INDIANAPOLIS – This time, the Indiana Fever knew how to respond.
Just two days earlier, Indiana lost its composure against the Minnesota Lynx in the same building. The Lynx started the third quarter on a 7-0 run and the Fever began to falter – technical fouls and numerous defensive errors led to a 29-point quarter for the Lynx, who outscored Indiana by 17 points in just 10 minutes.
Indiana was ultimately unable to recover from this and the Fever lost a game on home turf against the Lynx by 11 points.
On Sunday, however, Indiana fought back with a 104-100 overtime win.
‘Destructive’: Caitlin Clark on Angel Reese’s season-ending wrist injury
The Atlanta Dream, a team the Fever had beaten three times before Sunday’s game, led by four points at halftime. Then an 8-0 run to start the third quarter put them within 12 points. A short time later, the Fever were already 16 points behind.
“I’m proud of us. I think we battled through it, we were resilient and really gave it our all when it mattered,” freshman Caitlin Clark said. “I think we fell behind (16) but then continued to find a way. We started the fourth game really well and then I think they even responded and got it back to seven. I’m just proud of our group at that point.”
Earlier in the season, when the Fever were still finding their identity and breaking in a new point guard in Clark, they would have been unable to overcome such a deficit. Even on Saturday, the Fever struggled to maintain composure in the third quarter and were unable to fight back.
Over the course of two days, said coach Christie Sides, they became a different team. They stayed calm during that period and didn’t let themselves worry too much about decisions they didn’t like.
“I think you saw a different team out there,” Sides said. “I think there were a lot of moments where they could have gotten really angry, got rattled by little things, a couple of decisions, no decisions. But I think they managed their emotions a lot better, not got too worked up about things that, you know, just had the next game mentality. That’s what they had – the next game mentality to move on to the next one.”
Indiana made it a point to get rid of the things that were bothering them in the game and focused on how they could get consistent stops. And that led to a 21-5 run throughout the rest of the third quarter, and the Dream’s lead was tied at the end of regulation.
Then, with six points from Aliyah Boston and four from Clark in the Fever’s first overtime of the season, Indiana completed the sweep of the Dream. It is now the second time the Fever have swept a team in 2024 (3-0 over the Phoenix Mercury). That kind of composure to keep the Fever from sinking too low when they’re down by 16 in the second half is exactly what they need to compete in the playoffs.
Indiana will soon face an experienced team in the first round of the playoffs — whether it’s Connecticut or Minnesota — with coaches and players who have not only many more years in the league, but also much more playoff experience. Connecticut has made the WNBA semifinals every year for the past five years and has been to the finals twice during that span. Minnesota has coach Cheryl Reeve, who has won four championships in the past 13 years, and MVP candidate Napheesa Collier.
It will take a lot of work to keep up with those teams. The Fever still have some work to do, but the resilience they showed with their 8-2 record coming out of the Olympic break is a good start.
“I think (resilience) is one of the biggest improvements we’ve made throughout the year … definitely here in the second half,” Clark said. “I’m proud of our group. They’re just teams that are the top group in our league and obviously Atlanta is a really good team, but Liberty, Connecticut, Minnesota, those are the type of teams that aren’t going to let you get a 16-point lead over, that kind of thing just doesn’t happen. And we’ve got to find a way to be able to respond a little bit sooner.”
