‘We seemed a little bit flat’: Hours after making playoffs, Fever avoid letdown vs Sparks

INDIANAPOLIS — The emotional rollercoaster of the WNBA season is physically and emotionally draining.

Despite a player’s best efforts, some games carry more weight than others, and after clinching their first playoff berth since 2016, the Indiana Fever came out Wednesday against the last-place Los Angeles Sparks looking like a team with its eyes toward the postseason.

Eleven first-half turnovers put Indiana in a first-half deficit. The surging Fever looked disjointed and out of sync, but they overcame a slow start and pulled away in the second half to earn a 93-86 win.

“I thought we could have came out with a little more energy,” Fever guard Caitlin Clark said. “I thought we seemed a little bit flat, and I don’t think that was because we felt complacent with already being in the playoffs or anything like that. I’m just not sure if our energy was quite where it needed to be.

“I thought we could have picked that up a little bit better. We weren’t always on the same page, and I think that kind of started from the beginning, and we didn’t really play with as much pace as we usually do at moments.”

Emotional letdowns have tripped up the Clark-led Fever throughout the season. Clark’s first career triple-double against the New York Liberty snapped a nine-game losing streak against New York in early July. The Fever followed the win with a loss to the struggling Washington Mystics. The Fever rebounded with two impressive wins against the Phoenix Mercury and Minnesota Lynx, respectively, only to lay an egg against the slumping Dallas Wings before the Olympic break.

The Fever have played down to their opponents at times, but they’ve shown during their current five-win streak that they can flip a switch and put a team away when they need to.

Aliyah Boston sparked the second-half turnaround. The second-year post scored 10 points and pulled down eight rebounds after halftime. NaLyssa Smith added 13 points, four rebounds and three blocks.

Fever coach Christie Sides said the Fever had to refocus on getting the ball inside against the Sparks. Ultimately, Sides admitted that the team needed a bit of an emotional reset after experiencing the high that comes from clinching a playoff berth.

“(The Sparks) were hitting (shots). They were matching shots with us. I didn’t feel that we were as sharp defensively as we’ve been,” Sides said. “I didn’t hear us talking as much as we’ve been doing.

“I think there’s just been a lot of emotions today as well that might have played into just trying to get going for this game tonight. … The playoff clinch, they were excited and that’s huge for us. So, I think that had a little bit to do with it, but that’s not an excuse. It just was a grind, and we grinded it out.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Fever vs Sparks: Hours after making playoffs, Fever avoid letdown