Caitlin Clark and Indiana Fever show their youth in WNBA playoff loss to Connecticut Sun

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — The experience advantage jumped off the page: 222 collective playoff games for the Connecticut Sun and only 19 for the Indiana Fever.

For all of the hoops the young Fever have jumped through in their breakthrough year, climbing back from a 2-9 start to post the best offense in the league over the final three-quarters of the season, they couldn’t expedite their growing pains. They showed their youth in a 93-69 loss at Mohegan Sun Arena in Game 1 of their first-round series.

Sun coach Steph White said Connecticut got stronger as the game went on. But Indiana wilted. A 10-2 closing stretch to the first half broke open what was then a tied game, and the Fever were never within one possession again, failing to even close the margin to single digits during the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t play well,” Caitlin Clark said. “We didn’t play to the level that we’re capable of playing.”

The story of Indiana’s season has been the Fever falling and figuring out a way to pick themselves back up. The problem with that is first they have to get knocked down.

“We can win…I have all the confidence in the world in this team.”

Caitlin Clark on heading into Game 2. pic.twitter.com/In7oz0EMoO

— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) September 22, 2024

Connecticut was all too capable of assisting in that process. The Sun knew what the adjustment from the regular season to the postseason would entail. Rather than allow Indiana to get comfortable and then adjust, Connecticut pre-emptively shifted its strategy, despite going 3-1 against the Fever during the regular season and mostly holding Clark in check. Instead of crowding Clark and letting Indiana play four-on-three once she got rid of the ball, the Sun deployed DeWanna Bonner on that defensive assignment, and the 15-year veteran put on a master class for the rookie.

Bonner refused to let Clark get left to her step-back jumper, and her length deterred Clark’s attempts to drive. What resulted was a 4-of-17 shooting performance from the field, including 2 of 13 from long range as Indiana put up its lowest scoring total since July 2. Clark kept trying to shoot herself out of her slump rather than find her scoring in other ways, but the ball wouldn’t cooperate.

“My shot felt right there,” Clark said. “That’s why it’s so frustrating as a shooter when it feels so good, but it won’t go down for you.”

Those frustrations were nowhere to be found for the Sun, who made nearly 50 percent of their field goals, including 9 of 18 3s. More than half of those triples came from reserve Marina Mabrey, whom Clark had to guard. The rookie compounded her offensive struggles with lapses on the defensive end, letting Mabrey get loose from distance.

Mabrey spent a couple of weeks figuring out her role in the Connecticut offense but has been clinical ever since, shooting 42.4 percent on 3s since the trade. Her execution was emblematic of the whole team, as everyone knew exactly what they had to bring to come out with a victory.

Bonner defended Clark and was a mismatch on offense, using her size and speed to free herself from Lexie Hull. DiJonai Carrington stayed glued to Kelsey Mitchell, disrupting Mitchell’s handle and forcing giveaways. Brionna Jones sublimated her offense and instead focused on the glass, boxing out Aliyah Boston to limit Indiana’s second-chance points.

Alyssa Thomas was the fulcrum of it all. She said after the game she had been waiting all season for the playoffs, and Thomas was at her best, causing chaos on defense and then pushing the pace. White credited Thomas with being aggressive offensively as a scorer. Even though she didn’t finish well, Thomas’ attacks on the basket opened up the floor for her teammates.

“They understand the magnitude of where we are,” White said about her veterans, specifically Thomas and Bonner. “They’ve been through it, they understand that it takes another level. It takes another gear, it takes another level of urgency, and the margin for error is smaller. And so I think because they’ve been there, they understand it and they’re leading by example. They were locked in.”

It’s a state the Fever aspire to get to, one where they aren’t dribbling the ball off their feet or struggling to get into a flow due to stoppages beyond their control. One where they set the tone for how the game is going to be played instead of trying to adjust to the physicality on the fly.

But it was too much to expect Indiana to be that team in its first go-round in the playoffs, especially against a squad that has so much experience individually and collectively. The Sun didn’t leave any openings for the Fever. The home team looked the part of the favorite in every way.

“They know what it takes to step up to that next level, that playoff level,” Fever coach Christie Sides said. “And that’s what we’re going to be, that’s who we’re going to become.”

That transformation could take place as soon as Wednesday because Connecticut’s recent playoff experience has also included five consecutive losses in Game 2s, dating to 2022. Indiana isn’t the only team with some growing to do in the postseason, but in a three-game series, the Fever are the ones who are running out of time to learn those lessons.

(Photo of Caitlin Clark and DeWanna Bonner: Joe Buglewicz / Getty Images)