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Sophie Cunningham broke down why the Indiana Fever are struggling on offense. The Fever went close to nine minutes without scoring a field goal in Game 3 on Friday in Indianapolis.
The injured Fever guard said the Las Vegas Aces adjusted after her teammate, All-Star guard Kelsey Mitchell, came out hot in Game 1.
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“First game in Vegas … we were just on our s— and like it was, it was good from the jump.” Cunningham said on her podcast “Show Me Something,” which dropped during the Fever’s Game 3 loss on Friday.
“[We had a] sense of urgency. Defensive scheme was perfect. … Kelsey Mitchell is a freaking beast.”
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Mitchell scored 34 points as the Fever took the first game on the best-of-five WNBA semifinals series from the Aces at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. The Aces, though, have come back to win the last two games and take a 2-1 lead in the series. Cunningham shared her thoughts on the reason. She said Aces turned to a “junk defense.”
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“A junk defense is like when you do like a triangle in two or a box in one,” Cunningham said. “They went to it because they want to stop Kelsey … our main offensive player.
“They box up, which is like zones (on) everyone else. And then someone just stays on Kelsey the entire time wherever she’s at.”
The scheme has worked well as Mitchell is 12-for-40 on field goals in Games 2 and 3. She is shooting 30% after shooting 52% in Game 1 and 43% during the regular season.
“It’s a pretty smart move by (Aces coach) Becky Hammon,” Cunningham said. “But, we have more tricks up our sleeve.”
The Fever will need to find them fast. If they don’t win Game 4 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis Sunday (3 p.m. ET, ABC), their season will end.
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“We stole a game, and that’s huge,” Cunningham said. “But all the pressure is on them.”
Cunningham was asked later who she would like to see if the Fever do make it to the Finals. She played the first six season of her career with the Phoenix Mercury, who are leading the other semifinal series 2-1 over the Minnesota Lynx.
““Honestly, I don’t care. Like, I think that we are literally the Cinderella team right now,” she said.
“If you are thinking about with all of our adversity and everything we’ve been through, like we’ve seen it all. And now we just have to go perform because like we deserve to be here and like if everyone’s healthy, we 100 percent deserve to be here.”
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The Fever have lost five players to season-ending injuries, including Cunningham (knee), Caitlin Clark (groin), Sydney Colson (knee), Aari McDonald (foot) and Chloe Bibby (knee).
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sophie Cunningham says Aces are running ‘junk defense’ to stop Fever
