For the first time in 10 years the Indiana Fever were victorious in a playoff game on Tuesday night, earning a decisive 77-60 win over the Atlanta Dream at a raucous Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The win evens the best-of-three series at one game apiece, forcing a win-or-go-home Game 3 in Atlanta on Thursday night.
It’s been a long time coming for the Fever in the playoffs
Tuesday’s win ends a pretty extensive drought for the Fever when it comes to playoff success. Prior to this game, Indiana’s most recent playoff win came on October 11, 2015 in Game 4 of that year’s WNBA Finals against the Minnesota Lynx. It’s been so long that only four current members of the Fever were even in the WNBA when they last won a postseason game.
It’s an even bigger accomplishment for the Fever within the context of this season because they are still continuing to play well and compete without the services of their best player, Caitlin Clark.
Since the Fever’s previous playoff win, they lost the deciding Game 5 of the 2015 WNBA Finals, lost a first-round one-and-done game in 2016, missed the playoffs seven years in a row and were then swept in two straight games by the Connecticut Sun in the first-round of the 2024 playoffs. They also lost Game 1 of this year’s series against Atlanta.
Dominant defense and balanced scoring led to Game 2 win
Tuesday’s game was a clinical defensive performance by the Fever as they limited Atlanta to just 60 points, and allowing them to shoot just 37.9% from the field and only 5-of-19 from three-point range.
Rhyne Howard only scored 10 points — the only Dream starter to reach double-digits — while she finished as a team-worst minus-24 in her 33 minutes of basketball.
On the other side of the floor, Indiana had three players reach double-digits, including Kelsey Mitchell who finished with a game-high 19 points. Aliyah Boston (15 points) and Natasha Howard (12 points) also reached double-digits in the win.
One of the more underrated stars of the game for the Fever was Lexie Hull who finished with seven points and a game-best plus-19 rating in her 23 minutes of basketball.
