Indiana sees what it’ll take to make a run in playoffs

INDIANAPOLIS — Minutes after a first-half lead slipped away and the Minnesota Lynx snapped the Indiana Fever’s five-game winning streak, 99-88, the Fever veterans made sure their young teammates took a moment to really soak in what just happened.

At 25-9, only the New York Liberty are above the Lynx in the standings. The Lynx have their sights set on a WNBA championship. The Fever clinched their first playoff berth in 16 years, but they know the goal isn’t just to reach the postseason. The upstart Fever have dreams of one day winning a WNBA championship. To get to the top of the mountain, they have to study teams like the Lynx and learn what it takes to become a title contender.

Fever score:Fever lose their composure — and the game — in third quarter, falling to Lynx 99-88

“That was the conversation in our locker room amongst our vets like Temi (Fagbenle) and Katie Lou (Samuelson), they definitely said this is the standard,” Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell said. “We want to compete at the next level and be a part of a playoff run, not just getting there, not just being part of it, but making a run and making an impact.

“We’ll have to use this as leverage and know that (the Lynx) are the best, and in order to beat the best, you have to compete every night. I think we’ll use the film on a positive note and keep going forward.”

The Lynx used a 29-12 third quarter to wrestle control of the game away from the Fever. Indiana cut their deficit to one point twice in the fourth quarter, but both times the Lynx answered with 3-pointers, first from Courtney Williams and then Bridget Carleton. In the third quarter, Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston scored all 12 of the Fever’s points on 3-of-12 shooting.

Throughout the Indiana’s five-game winning streak, a player outside of the Fever’s Big Three made key plays to impact the game. Lexie Hull’s hustle and strong rebounding regularly creates extra possessions on offense. NaLyssa Smith is finding her rhythm as weakside defender, while making her limited touches in the post matter. Hull had another strong all-around game, scoring eight points to go with nine rebounds, three assists and two steals, but foul trouble limited her ability to play aggressive defense. Smith struggled to find her offense, finishing with two points on 1-for-7 shooting. Clark, Mitchell and Boston combined for 68 of Indiana’s 88 points.

“A balanced attack is always going to beat a one-person or a two-person attack,” Hull said. “Really good teams have everyone across the board as threats, and we’re lucky to have that. So just making sure that we find the hot hand and continue to score where we’re scoring and do what’s working throughout the game.”

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Boston made her presence felt early, scoring eight points in the first quarter, hitting all four of her shots. The second-year post scored just 12 more points the rest of the game, as the Lynx sent multiple bodies at her in the paint and the Fever routinely settled for outside shots. Clark and Mitchell can catch fire from deep, but Fever coach Christie Sides knows their offense works best when…

“We are second or first in the league in points in the paint. … We tied Minnesota, who isn’t very good at points in the paint. I think they’re maybe 11 or 12,” Sides said. “We have to take advantage of where we have the advantage. I think there were times where we needed to just come down, execute, get a paint touch, and then play out of that.

“We were taking some early shots that didn’t go our way, and then long shots end up being long rebounds, which is hard to get back in transition defense.”