The Indiana Fever look to extend their winning streak to four games when they host the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday night in Indianapolis.
Caitlin Clark (left groin strain) has missed the Fever’s last four games and her status for Saturday is unknown.
The Fever’s last loss came against the Sparks on June 26. Since then, the Fever (9-8) captured the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup and kept their momentum rolling with an 81-54 home rout against the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday.
Kelsey Mitchell had 25 points and six assists, while Aliyah Boston tallied 20 points and seven rebounds. Boston surpassed NaLyssa Smith for the fifth-most rebounds in franchise history.
The Fever’s defense forced 19 turnovers, including five steals, and posted three blocks vs. the Aces. Meanwhile, Indiana’s offense is getting easy opportunities thanks to that defensive intensity.
“Defensively we just want to be as sound as we need to be to get whatever we want offensively,” Mitchell said. “I think our coaches have made that clear, that whenever we can defend and do what we need to do, we can get whatever we want (on offense).”
The Sparks (5-13) are on a two-game losing streak after an 89-79 road defeat against the New York Liberty on Thursday. Dearica Hamby totaled 25 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks in the loss.
Former Golden State Valkyries guard Julie Vanloo played two minutes in her Sparks debut after being signed off waivers two hours before the game.
Vanloo guided Belgium to the EuroBasket championship this week, although she didn’t attend the celebration in order to fly to San Francisco to join the Valkyries. However, Golden State released Vanloo an hour after she landed.
Vanloo is putting it in the past and is excited to play for the Sparks.
“I’m not here to throw stones at Golden State,” Vanloo told ESPN. “If you’re with your family and friends, it’s a whole different story, and not literally being alone on the other side of the world trying to figure things out.”
The Fever are third in the Eastern Conference, while the Sparks, who have dropped six of their last seven, sit last in the West standings despite the addition of Kelsey Plum (20.1 points per game).
–Field Level Media
