In a first-round playoff rubber match on Thursday, either the Atlanta Dream or visiting Indiana Fever will snap a prolonged postseason drought on the way to the WNBA semifinals.
After falling 80-68 on the road in Game 1, Indiana breezed past Atlanta 77-60 at home on Tuesday to even the series, setting up a winner-take-all elimination game in College Park, Ga.
The sixth-seeded Fever, who won their first playoff game since 2015, were led by Kelsey Mitchell’s 19 points. They held the third-seeded Dream to 37.9 percent shooting from the field (25 of 66). If Indiana is going to advance past the first round for the first time in a decade, it will likely need a similar defensive effort on Thursday.
“Our aggressiveness, our attention to detail, our ability to contest without fouling, I thought that was huge,” Fever head coach Stephanie White said on Tuesday. “We played good enough defense (in Game 1) and our offense just couldn’t get it going. We were able to get it going on both sides tonight. I continue to be so proud of this group and their resilience.”
A victory Thursday would alleviate an up-and-down year for Indiana, a team that’s been without superstar point guard Caitlin Clark for more than two months and needed to win five of seven down the stretch to squeeze into the playoffs.
“The playoffs are all about not giving up. If I’ve learned anything about our group and our resilience, we won’t give up,” Mitchell said. “Right now, it’s just about that — not giving up and going the extra mile.”
Atlanta still holds the advantage, playing at home, but is one defeat away from seeing the winningest season in franchise history come to an end.
“I truly believe we’ll play our best game of the series next game,” Dream head coach Karl Smesko said. “We’re going to have to be better offensively, for sure. We’re going to have to shoot it better, but we have a lot of really talented offensive players and I think we’ll get it going next game.”
After Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard went for 20 points apiece in Game 1, Atlanta’s leading scorers were held to nine and 10 points, respectively, on Tuesday. The Dream haven’t won a playoff series since beating the Seattle Storm in the first round – a one-game round — in 2016.
–Field Level Media
