INDIANAPOLIS – There was a scenario last week that would have put the Indiana Fever in second place in the WNBA standings. Sure, they would have needed some help (from the New York Liberty, specifically), but their five-game win streak had them positioned to make some serious noise and with a stretch of games upcoming against the Chicago Sky, Dallas Wings, Washington Mystics and Connecticut Sun ahead of a four-day break, vibes were nearing an all-time high.
That seemed like a distant memory — an aberration, even — as the Fever walked off the floor Friday night, licking their wounds following an 88-84 loss to the Mystics (15-18).
It’s the Fever’s fourth loss in five games and second in a row, with their latest setback preceded by a similarly aggravating loss to then-eight-win Dallas on Tuesday.
Now they’re clinging to a playoff spot and facing essentially a must-win Sunday in Connecticut against the scuffling Sun (6-26).
Coach Stephanie White spoke before Friday’s game about the importance of playing with a sense of urgency and positioning themselves so they’re not reliant on other teams to make it into the playoffs. And for stretches of Friday’s game, the Fever played with that sense of urgency, building out a 13-point lead in the first half.
But they were unable to push the margin beyond that. The offense went stagnant (the over-reliance on Kelsey Mitchell was particularly problematic), the Mystics hit some 3s and the boulder quickly began rolling back downhill in the form of a 22-7 run between the first and second halves that swung the Mystics ahead, 49-47.
The Fever fought back to keep things competitive down the stretch, launching an 8-0 assault over the final minute of the third quarter to reclaim the lead. But defensive lapses over the final 10 minutes severely undermined their comeback efforts, with Washington converting 14-of-16 free throws.
Its other 12 points for the quarter? Seven of those came off turnovers.
Not great.
“Every loss hurts and we know that after our injuries, our margin for error is smaller,” White said. “A 22-7 run — those are hard to recover from, any time, really, but especially when you’re missing pieces. We have to make sure we’re sharper at times. We don’t have the margin to have lulls within quarters.”
The Fever deserve some grace. They’ve been beaten down with injuries, forced to plug-and-play point guards with just a couple practices under their belt. It’s not sustainable and has certainly played a hand in the team’s most recent hiccups.
But home games against the Wings and Mystics are ones this group absolutely should have won — and they know it.
“We’ve had some hard injuries this year. We’ve had some different lineups and roster spots, and to be frank, I don’t think anyone else around the league thinks that we can do it anymore,” guard Sophie Cunningham said. “But I think that our group does. We just have to get that confidence back. When we’re clicking offensively, defensively, we’re scary, and not a lot of teams can beat us, even with the roster that we have right now. So for us, it’s just remembering who we are, our identity. We have to get back to being dogs and being aggressive, and not allowing teams like this to come in here and outwork us.”
Asked if the wear-and-tear is beginning to take its toll on this team, Cunningham replied: “Not really.”
“You have to give yourself a little grace when you have so many new players,” she continued. “That’s part of being a pro. You have to adjust, you have to learn fast and I think that’s a really cool thing, too, because when you click, you click.”
Now we enter scoreboard watching season. With Friday’s loss, the Fever woke up Saturday in seventh, a half-game back of the Valkyries, a game up on Seattle and 1.5 games up on Los Angeles. 10th-place Washington is within 2.5 games.
In terms of tiebreakers, the Fever hold them over Atlanta, Seattle and Las Vegas. They are 1-2 vs. Washington with a game remaining vs. the Mystics.
The Fever remain in control of their own destiny, but the level of difficulty will increase exponentially after next week’s respite with a home-and-home against the Minnesota Lynx (27-5) followed by games against Seattle, Los Angeles and Golden State to close out the month.
“It takes a lot out of you when you lose players — mentally and emotionally — especially with the way that it happened. But it’s sports. It’s part of the business, part of what we do,” White said. “The great thing is we control our own destiny, but we have to understand the sense of urgency it takes and recognize the margin is small,” she continued. “We have a team that plays really hard. We just have to marry execution with our energy.”
As of Aug. 16
Top eight teams make WNBA playoffs.
TeamWLPct.GBMinnesota275.844-New York2112.6366.5Atlanta2112.6366.5Phoenix1913.5948Las Vegas2014.5888Golden State1815.5459.5INDIANA1816.52910Seattle1717.50011Los Angeles1617.48511.5Washington1518.45512.5Dallas926.26519Chicago825.24219.5Connecticut626.18821
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