The Indiana Fever padded their playoff lead over the Atlanta Dream last night, winning by an 84-79 count in front of a packed house of over 17,000 fans in Atlanta. The Dream proved to be a surprisingly feisty opponent, coming from 18 down to close to within a bucket before the Dream finished out the win with a five-point possession.
Caitlin Clark was steady with 19 points and seven assists, but it was Kelsey Mitchell who provided the spark, leading Indiana with 29 points. Aliyah Boston chipped in with 14 as the Fever finished up a brief road swing that began with a loss to the Lynx in Minnesota.
Atlanta, meanwhile, lost the opportunity to close the gap with Indiana, and they're now 3.5 games behind the Fever in the playoff standings. The Dream was led by Tina Charles, who celebrated her jump to second in the WNBA's all-time scoring standings last week with a 28-point game. She was joined in the scoring column by do-it-all guard Rhynne Howard, who added 16 points to go with seven boards and a pair of assists.
Caitlin Clark helps Indiana dominate first half
Indiana made it look easy in the first half, dominating the action to take a 14-point lead at the half. That lead swelled to 18 with a Caitlin Clark three-pointer early in the third quarter, but the Dream countered with a run that made the game surprisingly close.
Atlanta then missed a three-pointer before grabbing the offensive rebound, but another miss from long distance followed, and a turnover cost them any remaining chances. Mitchell gave Indiana some breathing room with a pair of free throws, and the Fever were finally able to heave a sigh of relief.
Clark mostly solved her turnover problem, an early season issue that resurfaced last Saturday against the Lynx when she had seven turnovers and seemed frustrated with the refereeing. She only had 4 last night, but it was Mitchell and Boston who picked up the scoring slack in the first half to go 12 for 21 as the Fever raced out to a formidable halftime lead.
Clark also gave both Fever and WNBA fans a serious scare in the first quarter when a collision in the lane sent her tumbling to the ground, and she got up walking gingerly with what appeared to be a serious ankle sprain. She recovered quickly and reentered the game a couple of minutes later, though, and Clark joked about the injury during her post-game press conference.
The playoff positioning forecast for both teams
The Fever can be forgiven if they were looking ahead to Wednesday's marquee matchup with Connecticut, which comes to town with a three-game winning streak that includes a weekend victory over the Liberty in New York. The Sun have won all three of their matchups to date, so Indiana will be looking to post their first win in the season series between the two clubs.
Indiana closed to within 1.5 games of the Mercury, who lost by 14 to the Liberty, as that part of the playoff race tightened up as well. Phoenix hosts Minnesota on Wednesday, and the combination of a Fever win and a Lynx loss would close the gap between the two clubs to a half-game as they continued to battle for playoff position.
Atlanta, however, has a tougher fight on its hands. The Dream lost an opportunity to move up on Chicago for a final playoff berth, so they're now a full game behind the Sky. Chicago hosts the Mystics on Wednesday, while Atlanta starts its west coast swing with a date in Seattle against the Storm.
The battle for 8th feels like a two-team race at this point, with the two teams meeting for the final time in September on the 17th in a game Atlanta hopes will have serious playoff implications.