Forced to look in mirror, Fever show they’re ‘growing up’ with late stops to beat Dream

INDIANAPOLIS – After scorching the nets with a 59-point first half against the Atlanta Dream on Thursday, the Indiana Fever’s offense cooled off in the second half. What was once an 18-point Fever lead became a one-point deficit late in the fourth quarter, and the Fever needed their WNBA-worst defense to muster up stops in crutch time.

Atlanta led 82-81 when it took a timeout with 2:52 left. Dream star Rhyne Howard couldn’t be stopped in the second half. The 2022 first-overall pick had eight points at that point in the quarter, including two 3-pointers that got Atlanta back in the game. Coming out of the timeout, everyone in Gainbridge Fieldhouse knew where the ball was going.

But as Howard came off a flare screen on the left side, Fever players Kristy Wallace and Aliyah Boston blitzed her in the corner as soon as she caught the ball. With the shot clock dwindling, Howard had nowhere to go, and Indiana forced a shot-clock violation.

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A Boston bucket gave Indiana the lead on the other end before Indiana forced another shot-clock turnover. The next time Atlanta got the ball, Howard was again trapped coming off the flare screen. She shot the ball and missed over Boston and Wallace’s contest this time. The string of stops guided the Fever (4-10) to a 91-84 victory over the Dream (5-6).

“We were trying to rush her, just make it hard for her, make her think about maybe even giving it up,” Boston said of defending Howard down the stretch. “Just because she came out that second half and was just lighting it up, and so anything was better than a wide-open shot or on the late contest.”

Howard finished with 26 points, but the Fever shut her down when it mattered most. For a team that hasn’t been able to halt offensive explosions all year, coming up with multiple stops in the game’s waning minutes symbolizes growth.

Fever coach Christie Sides is a defense-first coach. Following the mantra of general manager (and former Fever coach) Lin Dunn, Sides believes success starts on the defensive end. So it’s understandable Sides has been unsettled by the Fever allowing over four more points per game than any other WNBA team.

Sides and her staff call three consecutive stops a “kill.” Indiana came up with four straight stops as part of its 9-2 run to close the game. Given the Fever’s defensive woes, their leader was proud of how they buckled up to seal a win.

“I’m gonna go home and watch that over and over because we just did an excellent job,” Sides said. “Rhyne Howard got hot. She’s an excellent player, that’s what she does. And we decided to trap her coming off those dribble-handoffs or if she was going to come back into a ball screen, and (we) just did it perfectly. The timing was perfect, we were aggressive, we didn’t foul. It was just a huge moment for our team growing up right there in that time.”

Sides was disappointed in her group’s effort in its 89-72 loss at Connecticut on Monday. She made a statement by benching four of the team’s starters for the final quarter and a half of the contest. The team provided a magnificent response to the statement.

Indiana doesn’t have a squad built around defense. With an array of young players on the roster, defense was never supposed to be this group’s strength. But what transpired against Connecticut — and against multiple teams this year — was a lack of urgency, effort and focus. No matter what the personnel looks like, Monday’s output was inexcusable. And the whole team knew it.

“We all individually took a look in the mirror about what we can be better at,” Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell said. “I think anybody that’s a professional — player or whatever they do — (will) take a look in the mirror, see how can I be better. … We had to take a long look on Monday night.”

Despite the team’s collective youth, the Fever did what pros do against the Dream. Even as the Dream charged back in front with a few minutes remaining, the Fever didn’t crumble and made the necessary plays late.

This team is growing up in real time. Indiana’s defense won’t turn into a great one in the middle of the season, but if it can upgrade from embarrassing to respectable, the team’s dynamic changes.

“I’m confident enough to say that once we kind of hammer home the idea of staying aggressive on defense every possession, I think we’ll have a really good season,” Mitchell said.

In an ideal world, the Fever win by double digits and don’t let the Dream crawl all the way back into the game. But this team is still taking its lumps. On Thursday, the Fever responded to adversity mid-game and defended like grown-ups to secure a win.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Fever defense steps up in clutch time to beat Atlanta Dream