WNBA playoff scores and takeaways: Fever force decisive Game 3, rookie delivers for Storm

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Near the end of a grinding third quarter, in which bodies hitting the floor and whistles were nearly as common as baskets, the Indiana Fever decided they weren’t ready for their season to end.

Leading by 10 points with less than 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter of Tuesday’s Game 2, Fever center Aliyah Boston muscled up a basket over two Atlanta Dream defenders. Seconds later, Indiana reserve guard Shey Peddy deflected Atlanta’s inbounds pass into the hands of guard Kelsey Mitchell, who found Boston open at the top of the key. Boston swung the ball to guard Lexie Hull, who was uncovered on the left wing and hit her only 3-pointer of the game as the period expired.

In an instant, a 10-point Indiana lead ballooned to 15. Hull bumped chests with Boston and forward Natasha Howard, and she gestured for the Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd to grow louder.

“The energy, everyone felt it,” Boston said. “The crowd was going crazy, and we just used that momentum into the fourth.”

The Fever’s grittiness was on full display in their 77-60 victory, pushing their first-round series against the Dream back to Atlanta for a series-deciding Game 3 on Thursday. The sequence to close the quarter typified Indiana’s night. It was sometimes clunky, but in the end, there were cheers. As a result, Indiana picked up its first playoff win since 2015.

The five-point sprint to close out the third was part of a 15-0 run that stretched across the third and fourth quarters. In a matter of minutes, an eight-point cushion became 23, and the Dream never recovered.

“They made some key plays defensively to get out in transition and get some easy looks,” Dream All-Star center Brionna Jones said. “They came out and they were aggressive. We needed to match that better tonight.”

The Fever’s defense was stifling during the critical run. And their offense showed great balance, as five players scored during the key stretch — none of them was Mitchell, who finished the win with a game-high 19 points.

Through two games, Indiana’s 3-point defense has been stout. The Dream, who finished the regular season No. 2 in offensive rating, made only three of their first 17 3-pointers before reserve guard Te-Hina Paopao hit two 3s in the final two minutes. That will again be critical in Game 3, when the Fever will look to fluster Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray. The duo combined to score only 19 points after combining for 40 in Game 1.

Dream coach Karl Smesko called the performance “just an off-day.” Fever coach Stephanie White said her team built strengths.

“This is a group that’s confidence has never wavered,” White said. “We’ve been in every kind of situation you can imagine and we’ve been able to find ways to put ourselves in position to win, and (Game 3) will be no different.”

Seattle’s Dominique Malonga grows up in a hurry

The only saving grace from the Storm’s calamitous 25-point loss in Game 1 was the in-game turnaround from Dominique Malonga. After a tough first half in which she shot 1 of 8 from the field and was schooled by A’ja Wilson, Malonga made all three of her field-goal attempts in the second half, adding six rebounds.

Two days later, Malonga didn’t need an adjustment period. The 19-year-old rookie was the difference-maker for Seattle in a must-win game. She recorded a consecutive double-double and finished with a team-high plus-11 as the Storm completed a nine-point fourth-quarter comeback to even the first-round series against Las Vegas at one game apiece.

“There is an evolution in every single game that we play, we have not seen the same Dom in two games,” Storm veteran Nneka Ogwumike said.

Coach Noelle Quinn kept the No. 2 pick on the court for the final 6:04, trusting Malonga to guard Wilson and provide Seattle with a presence on the glass. Wilson didn’t score during that entire stretch and had only one rebound.

The reigning MVP’s final shot attempt, as the Aces held onto a two-point lead, fell short against Malonga’s closeout, and she didn’t stop there. She raced the full length of the court, beat Wilson to the opposing goal, caught an outlet pass from Skylar Diggins and finished through contact to give the Storm their first lead of the second half with 31 seconds to play.

“Nice catch and tough finish by her,” Diggins said. “I’m really impressed by the free throw. That’s a big moment by a 19-year-old.”

No team played more clutch minutes than Seattle (110) during the regular season, but Malonga wasn’t often on the court, appearing for only 23 minutes. But she demanded that time in Game 2. She rose to the challenge of guarding Wilson, and she battled Wilson for position and didn’t foul her in the fourth quarter. Malonga also made the right play time and again; her assist to Erica Wheeler to cut the lead to three was among the biggest moments of the night before her and-one delivered the win.

The Storm victory ended Las Vegas’ 17-game winning streak, the second-longest in a single season in WNBA history. Now, not only have the Aces tasted defeat, but they face elimination in their next game. As they prepare for Thursday, they’ll have to contend with a continuously evolving version of Malonga.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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