Aliyah Boston, Caitlin Clark fuel Indiana Fever rally to beat Atlanta Dream in OT

Posted by Admin September 8, 2024 Basketball

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INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever got back into the win column Sunday afternoon, rallying for an overtime win over the Atlanta Dream, 104-100.

The Fever are now 19-17, No. 6 in the WNBA standings, with four games left in the regular season.

‘I’m proud of us.’ How Fever flipped script on Dream for comeback OT win.

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Here are three observations:

Indiana Fever win first overtime battle of the season

You’d never believe the Fever were down by 16 at one point during the second half.

After fighting back to tie the score in the fourth quarter, Indiana successfully defended Atlanta’s final shot in regulation by Allisha Gray, forcing the first overtime of the season for the Fever.

After trading baskets for most of overtime, Indiana finally took a lead with 1 1/2 minutes left on an Aliyah Boston hook shot. Indiana then successfully defended shots from Rhyne Howard (who had 36 points) and Tina Charles (17 points), and two free-throws from Caitlin Clark sealed the game.

This victory gives Indiana a 4-0 record over Atlanta this season, giving the Fever their second sweep of the season (Phoenix Mercury, 3-0).

Turnovers set the tone in first half

Indiana couldn’t really get into a rhythm in the first half, and that could’ve come from their struggle to take care of the ball. Indiana turned the ball over 12 times in the first half; five in the first quarter and seven in the second.

Some came from small mistakes — including when Clark tried to throw the ball over her head to NaLyssa Smith in the paint,, and the Dream grabbed it out of the air.

Coach Christie Sides called multiple timeouts in the second quarter as the Fever were struggling, including two within 40 seconds of each other — Kelsey Mitchell turned the ball over twice in a row following a timeout around the 6-minute mark of the second quarter, leading Sides to call one

That second timeout helped both Mitchell and the rest of the Fever. Mitchell did not turn the ball over for the rest of the second quarter, and had just two more turnovers the rest of the game.

Luckily for the Fever, the Dream failed to capitalize on most of the Fever’s turnovers. Atlanta only scored seven points off of the Fever’s 12 turnovers in the first half, leaving most of those free possessions scoreless.

In the second half, Indiana had just three turnovers

Fever fall flat, then rebound in the third quarter

The beginning of the third quarter was not a stretch Indiana wanted to remember — some defensive miscues gave Atlanta an 8-0 run, extending its lead to 12 points. At one point, the Fever trailed by as many as 16 in the third.

It was similar to the Fever’s third-quarter letdown on Friday night, where Minnesota used a 29-point third quarter in an 11-point victory over the Fever. Indiana couldn’t recover in that quarter, letting Minnesota outscore them by 17.

But this time, the Fever didn’t let that run linger.

Indiana went on an 11-0 run itself in the middle of the third quarter, forcing three turnovers by Atlanta in that span. Mitchell and Aliyah Boston each accounted for four points in that span — for Mitchell, it was her first points since the first quarter.

The Fever’s run rejuvenated the Fever crowd, which was sitting mostly silent for the first part of that third-quarter stretch. A 3-pointer by Clark at the end of the quarter got the fans off their feet.