{"id":160112,"date":"2025-09-16T05:09:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T05:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/160112\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T05:09:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T05:09:06","slug":"how-atlantas-defense-helped-it-take-game-1-over-indiana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/160112\/","title":{"rendered":"How Atlanta’s defense helped it take Game 1 over Indiana"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the next five minutes, the Dream held the Fever to just six points while Allisha Gray<\/a> and Rhyne Howard<\/a> provided enough offense to cut the deficit to three at the end of the first quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur mindset was we wanted to punch first, and we knew it would be a dog fight,\u201d Howard told reporters postgame. \u201cI think that helped us even with the slow start because we still were able to combat what they were doing [offensively].\u201d<\/p>\n

That momentum carried into the second, where wing Maya Caldwell<\/a> delivered a spark off the bench.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With the score tied at 26 at the 5:35 mark, Caldwell fronted Aliyah Boston<\/a> in the post, then rotated to the weak side to swat Natasha Howard<\/a>\u2019s drive at the rim. Atlanta ran the other way, pushing the pace for an easy Nia Coffey<\/a> layup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe defense wins games, and that\u2019s something we bought into early in the season,\u201d Caldwell told The Next pregame. \u201cWe know we have to destroy space, and we take pride in our 1-on-1 defense, as well as how we help each other to make sure everything comes together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Atlanta forced Indiana deep into the shot clock in the half-court, flooding the gaps on every drive and contesting nearly every shot.<\/p>\n

The Fever shot just 4-for-17 from the field in the second quarter, with only two field goals<\/a> coming from players outside of Mitchell. This allowed the Dream to build a 40-33 lead entering the break.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the second quarter, I thought we started to settle in,\u201d Atlanta head coach Karl Smesko said. \u201cWe forced a lot more tough shots, and we forced a few more turnovers. We really needed it because the first five minutes were rough.\u201d<\/p>\n

The IX Basketball, a 24\/7\/365 women\u2019s basketball newsroom powered by The Next
The IX Basketball<\/a>: A basketball newsroom brought to you by The IX Sports<\/a>. 24\/7\/365 women\u2019s basketball coverage, written, edited and photographed by our young, diverse staff and dedicated to breaking news, analysis, historical deep dives and projections about the game we love.<\/p>\n

Atlanta\u2019s defense stayed relentless early in the second half, as All-Star center Brionna Jones<\/a> was physical with Boston in the post, forcing her to pass out to Lexie Hull<\/a>, only for Howard to cut off Hull\u2019s drive and force a shot clock violation.<\/p>\n

The Fever outscored the Dream 20-18 in the third quarter, but with Natasha Howard<\/a> and Boston held to a combined 0-for-2 from the field, and three turnovers from Howard, Indiana couldn\u2019t create any separation.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir physicality took us out of our rhythm,\u201d Indiana head coach Stephanie White<\/a> said postgame. \u201cThey\u2019re fast, they\u2019re long, and they make you work throughout entire possessions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite outscoring Atlanta in the third, Indiana entered the fourth trailing by just five. But foul trouble struck early, with Boston picking up her fifth foul with 8:58 remaining in the game. This, combined with two technicals called on Indiana\u2019s Odyssey Sims<\/a> and White, gave Atlanta the edge.<\/p>\n

The Dream opened the quarter with a 9-0 run, and with Boston on the bench, Atlanta pulled away as Naz Hillmon<\/a> and Howard combined for 16 fourth-quarter points. The Dream held on to win 80-68 and take a 1-0 lead in the series.<\/p>\n

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Atlanta\u2019s defense was the story of the game. While Mitchell scored a game-high 27 points, the Dream limited the rest of Indiana\u2019s rotation to just 28.9% from the field and 7.1% from three. Indiana managed only nine points in transition, well below their season average (14.5 points), according to Synergy Sports.<\/p>\n

The Dream\u2019s defense, from its on-ball pressure in the backcourt to its rim protection, helped hold the Fever to just 44% at the rim and limited second-chance opportunities to pick up the win.<\/p>\n

Atlanta will travel to Indiana for Game 2 on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over the next five minutes, the Dream held the Fever to just six points while Allisha Gray and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[2648,97418,18418,4806,5621,85511,5484,18118,99,4803,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-160112","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-aliyah-boston","9":"tag-bri-jones","10":"tag-karl-smesko","11":"tag-kelsey-mitchell","12":"tag-lexie-hull","13":"tag-maya-caldwell","14":"tag-naz-hillmon","15":"tag-rhyne-howard","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-stephanie-white","18":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}