INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever took the WNBA restart by storm, beating the Phoenix Mercury for the third time this season, 98-89 on Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Indiana’s win seals the season sweep over the Mercury. The Fever are now 12-15, sitting at seventh in the league standings.
Kelsey Mitchell had a season-high 28 points for the Fever and Caitlin Clark had 29, with the two leading a group of four Fever players who finished in double-figures.
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Here are three observations:
Fever storm to early lead
In the first quarter, the Fever had the advantage. They were rested, with nearly all of their players staying stateside during the Olympic break, while Phoenix had four players (all starters) go to Paris for the Olympics.
One of Phoenix’s players, Bec Allen, was injured during the Olympic stretch and is out with a hamstring issue. The others — Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner and Kahleah Copper — barely had any time to rest or get any extra practice with their team. On top of that, Phoenix came into town on the second half of a back-to-back: the Mercury beat the Sky on Thursday night in Chicago.
So, the Fever used their rest to their advantage. They stormed out to a 22-9 lead in the first six minutes, and Clark was unstoppable. She was scoring at will — 13 in the first quarter alone. She accentuated her play with a cross-court dime to Kelsey Mitchell, enough so that Pacers All-Star and gold medalist Tyrese Haliburton, sitting courtside, put his hands on his head in excitement.
The Fever led by as much as 28 in the first half, leading 48-20 in the middle of the second quarter.
The Fever needed all of that lead. Phoenix proceeded to go on a 20-3 run through the end of the second and start of the third quarters. At one point in the third, the Mercury even took the lead from the Fever.
Indiana had been in this situation before, even against the same team. Indiana stormed out to a big lead the last time the two teams played on July 12, and Mercury guard Kahleah Copper nearly single-handedly orchestrated a comeback in that game. In that game, the Fever hung on for a nine-point win.
Fever limit Brittney Griner with foul trouble
Maybe the most pivotal moment of the game was when Mercury center Brittney Griner, standing at 6-9, was called for her fifth foul at the 7-minute mark of the fourth quarter. Griner stands five inches taller than the Fever’s starting center, Aliyah Boston, giving her an advantage on the boards and under the basket.
But the Fever knew how to draw fouls on her, and forced her to sit often. She picked up her third foul with six minutes left in the first half, forcing Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts to send her to the bench for most of the rest of the half.
Without Griner’s size on the court, the Fever had an easier time commanding the boards and getting layups in the paint. By halftime, with Griner only playing nine minutes, Indiana had a 24-18 advantage on the boards.
When Griner picked up her fifth foul, she needed to sit during a pivotal moment in the fourth quarter. Indiana went on a 5-2 run during that time — it doesn’t seem like a lot, but it was enough for Indiana to get the breathing room it needed.
Griner ended up playing just 25 minutes and was limited to 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting.
Kelsey Mitchell, Natasha Cloud have heated moment
Tensions were growing, slowly but surely, throughout the course of the game. Mercury guard Diana Taurasi picked up a tech for something she said to the referees after Clark drew a foul on Griner in the first quarter. Later in the game, Mercury guard Kahleah Copper exchanged some works with Clark after the Fever rookie fouled her.
It all culminated in what was nearly a benches-clearing spat between Mercury guard Natasha Cloud and Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell. It happened after Mitchell committed an offensive foul on Cloud, and the two exchanged some words before Mitchell pushed Cloud back into Fever forward NaLyssa Smith.
Cloud reacted, but Smith broke the two up almost immediately. Fever coach Christie Sides and some assistants sprinted over from the bench, and Mitchell was still saying some words as she was held back by Smith on the other side of the court.
After an extensive review, the refs called offsetting fouls on Mitchell and Cloud. That brings Cloud’s technical total for the season up to six — one away from getting a one-game suspension. It was Mitchell’s first technical of the season.
How many points did Caitlin Clark score?
The rookie scored 29 points in her first game back from a month-long break and had a double-double with 10 assists and five rebounds.
