![\"Kelsey](\"https:\/\/platform.swishappeal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/154\/2026\/09\/gettyimages-2297506135.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100\")
<\/a><\/p>\nKelsey Mitchell and Raven Johnson. Getty Images<\/p>\n
After Game 1, Caitlin Clark assessed the Fever\u2019s defense as an \u201cF.\u201d How does Indiana improve it?<\/p>\n
First, Aliyah Boston avoiding foul trouble is a near-necessity for Indiana\u2019s defensive viability, but, even if she does, how many minutes can Boston play, considering she\u2019s be managing a leg injury all season? This year, she averaged just over 27 minutes, the fewest of her career.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s even more pressure on Boston to be on the court because of a lack of a reliable alternative. That includes the promising Mikayala Timpson, who might not have a place in this series. To begin Game 1, the Fever attempted to get creative, having Timpson guard Chelsea Gray. Gray, however, seem to relish the opportunity to school the second-year forward. Timpson also proved unable to do anything with A\u2019ja Wilson.<\/p>\n
If the options on the interior are less-than-ideal, can Indy improve at the point of attack?<\/p>\n
Raven Johnson was the lone bright spot for the Fever in Game 1. In addition to finishing efficiently on the offensive end, she also caused some trouble for Jackie Young, who, when marked by anyone else, got whatever she wanted.<\/p>\n
Game 1 also was the second recent blowout loss in which head coach Stephanie White, seemingly searching for a defensive spark, turned to Johnson. In the Fever\u2019s home loss to the Mystics in the third-to-last game of the regular season, Johnson also offered solid minutes during an otherwise desultory showing.<\/p>\n
Will White turn to Raven before things start to go sideways? That likely means sitting one of her star offensive guards. Is White intent upon maximizing Indiana\u2019s defensive upside and, therefore, making rotational room for Johnson? Or, will she continue to endorse Indy\u2019s offensive identity until, possibly, it\u2019s too late?<\/p>\n
Clark also called Indiana\u2019s offense \u201csloppy,\u201d suggesting the team\u2019s actions made it difficult to generate good shots. What\u2019s the Fever\u2019s offensive fix?<\/p>\n
In Game 1, the Aces succeeded in neutralizing Fever\u2019s offensive firepower, particularly by preventing Indiana from running after makes.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Talbot or Jewell Loyd were committed to infringing upon Clark\u2019s desire to push the pace. While some opponents look to trouble Clark by attacking her dribble, the Aces opted to obstruct her path, with Talbot and Loyd using their size to keep her from zipping up the court or slinging a hit-ahead pass.<\/p>\n
Vegas\u2019 strategy, in turn, forced Indiana to execute in the halfcourt.<\/p>\n
Too often that execution was Clark or Kelsey Mitchell deciding it was their responsibility to get a bucket, with both resorting to difficult shots rather that using the defensive attention they attracted to move the ball and find easier opportunities.<\/p>\n
That lack of movement made things much easier for the Aces defense. Clark is considered a premier playmaker, Mitchell is an elite off-the-ball mover and Boston can function as an offensive hub. Indiana has the personnel to cause problems. Will their key players choose to make a simple pass over the big shot?<\/p>\n
Olivia Miles. Getty Images<\/p>\n Can Olivia Miles \u201cfake it until you make it \u201dand play like the unanimous Rookie of the Year?<\/p>\n Credit to Olivia Miles for admitting she was nervous before her first-ever WNBA playoff game. In a sports world full of clich\u00e9s, as discussed above, the honesty is refreshing.<\/p>\n However, Miles might need to adopt the \u201cfake it until you make it\u201d attitude she mentioned in her Rookie of the Year presser. In a Barclays Center ready to pounce on the Lynx, Miles needs to project the confidence, even cockiness, she flashed during the highest moments of her record-breaking rookie season.<\/p>\n Can she tap into the freedom and flair that makes her \u201cThe Spectacle\u201d while still playing with the control and command demanded by the playoff crucible? Now five-time Coach of the Year Cheryl Reeve surely is working with her precocious PG to \u201cprogram\u201d solutions.<\/p>\n Considering the Liberty\u2019s excess of interior size, encouraging Miles to fire away from 3, and begin to stretch out and loosen the New York defense by doing so, might be a first step. Draining a stepback 3 or two should wash away any lingering nerves.<\/p>\n Kayla McBride called for an \u201cFU\u201d attitude. Is finding that mindset, or better execution, more important for the Lynx?<\/p>\n As the end of the regular season wound down and the Lynx were turning in subpar performances, Kayla McBride shared that the Lynx needed to find an \u201cFU\u201d attitude, emphasizing that she wanted to see her team \u201ctaking and ripping people\u2019s hearts out and taking momentum back.\u201d<\/p>\n Any sense of \u201cFU\u201d was absent in Game 1.<\/p>\n Timidity, uncertainty and hesitancy extended beyond Miles and through the entire roster. There were moments when McBride or Courtney Williams attempted to inspire their team with aggressiveness, trying to change the game\u2019s momentum with a bold shot. But, those hero-ball moments went wanting. They\u2019re also not a sustainable solution.<\/p>\n So, can the Lynx translate a sense of \u201cFU\u201d into productive outcomes?<\/p>\n As McBride and Reeve both stressed after Game 1, the Lynx were too stagnant on the offensive end. McBride called their offense \u201csticky,\u201d<\/a> while Reeve noted that Napheesa Collier needed to be \u201cway more assertive,\u201d<\/a> calling on more movement from Collier.<\/p>\n McBride, however, ultimately expressed her faith in her team, insisting, \u201cI believe in us, I don\u2019t have any doubt inside my body that we can\u2019t got to New York and bring this s*** back here.\u201d<\/p>\n Then, in her Coach of the Year acceptance speech, Reeve paid tribute to her players, specifically sharing her appreciation for McBride, Williams and Collier for choosing to return to Minnesota for a season that wasn\u2019t expected to end with a No. 1 seed.<\/p>\n That\u2019s all well and good. But, this is the playoffs.<\/p>\n Should mushy things like mindset, whether tapping into a killer mentality, projecting confidence or believing in the power of friendship, be the talking points for a team that earned the No. 1 seed?<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n