INDIANAPOLIS — With the Indiana Fever viewing these back-to-back home games with the Las Vegas Aces as the mock playoffs, well, they’ve just been sent home after Friday’s 78-74 loss. Even Fever head coach Christie Sides acknowledged what’s written above. Las Vegas is the lone opponent the Fever haven’t beaten this season, swept in two home and road games.
The Fever lost 86-75 to the Aces at home Wednesday night, too.
Regardless of the result, Caitlin Clark made history in an abnormal type of night. She set the new all-time single-season assist record at 317 — previously owned by Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas in 2023 — and ended at 321. But Clark was also held scoreless in the first half. And in the first five minutes, she smacked the side of the stanchion for her sixth technical foul this year.
“That’s crazy,” Clark said afterward. “They’re never gonna overturn that… it’s in the rule book. It is what it is. I tried to get my last (technical) away. (The league) just didn’t take it away… I think I could’ve done a better job keeping my emotions in check, but at the same time, *pause* really?”
“But it is a rule, so they have to call it,” Clark added. “I get it, it’s just tough.”
Seven technical fouls means an automatic one-game suspension. But that number resets in the playoffs, so unless Clark gets another technical when the Fever host the Dallas Wings Sunday, it shouldn’t matter all too much for the rest of the season. The tech didn’t matter all too much in the game. It’s one point. But Aces guard Kelsey Plum sinking the free throw was the precursor.
Las Vegas shot 13-for-18 at the line. Indiana shot 11-for-20 and lost by four points.
“We took what we did against them the other night and learned from it, and totally fixed some things that really helped us, especially on the defensive end,” Sides said. “Making nine free throws changes this game. Just making a few of them, not even all nine. When you’re at home though, you gotta put the ball in the hole from the free throw line… we will take something from this.”
Christie Sides OK with Aliyah Boston 3-pointer on final possession
With 42 seconds to go in the fourth quarter, Fever backup forward Damiris Dantas brought the deficit back within one possession. At 23 seconds, Clark grabbed Plum’s 3-point miss and the Fever called timeout right away. Trailing 75-72, they’d get one more shot in the halfcourt. Kelsey Mitchell came up to the arc, but was denied there and coaxed into opting for the long midrange.
Mitchell didn’t take it. Clark was smothered on the other wing. So, Mitchell passed to an open Boston in the corner. A’ja Wilson didn’t care and stayed in the paint. It was probably the most open look anyone got on the night. The shot rattled in-and-out for the 29.2% 3-point shooter, who mostly gets points in and around the paint. If it went in, it’d be tied 75-75 with 13 seconds.
Las Vegas sealed it with free throws.
“This girl has gone and worked really hard on that part of the game,” Sides said of Boston. “I have a lot of confidence in her to take that shot. I mean, teams are going to scheme against Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell. They’re going to do everything they can to make somebody else take that three… but I was so okay with that wide open three by Aliyah Boston right there.”
Where do Caitlin Clark, Fever go now after losing three of past four home games?
The Fever have beat up on middle-of-the-pack teams all year, and recently grinded out wins over Los Angeles and Atlanta when not at their best. But as for their playoff destiny, three losses to Minnesota and Las Vegas to follow all at home — both top teams in the league — doesn’t deliver optimism. The Fever may have to go to Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs too, depending on seeding.
Sure, if Indiana was told they’d be bounced in the first round of the playoffs back in May, they’d take it. They’d have to: they haven’t been to the postseason in seven seasons. Now Indiana has clinched, and on the positive side, Sides and her coaching staff have 80 minutes of film over an opponent that squashed them at every turn. That can come in handy to get better and improve.
The Fever lost their first matchup with the Aces by 19. Friday — just four.
“We experienced something that we haven’t experienced before, tonight,” Kelsey Mitchell said. “I think that we can utilize it as fuel for the playoffs. But I think that this was a good step in the right direction. Considering what history says about us and playing Vegas, I think we made a lot of great steps today.”
The Fever conclude the season by hosting the Wings and visiting the Washington Mystics next Thursday. Both teams are under them in the standings, so potential improvements of this “playoff elimination” in three days to the Aces, must objectively wait to be tested under harder conditions until the playoffs begin Sept. 22.
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