The Indiana Fever could not take care of business in Game 1 against the Atlanta Dream. Indiana lost 80-68 against Atlanta in Game 1 of their three-game playoff series. Now the Fever need to regroup before what could be their final game of the 2025 WNBA season.
Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell acknowledged that Indiana made plenty of mistakes in Game 1. Mitchell specifically called out unforced errors on offense.
“We shot ourselves in the foot in a lot of different areas that impact being able to make plays and do what you want to do on the offensive end,” Mitchell said, per ESPN's Alexa Philippou. “So I think that once we stop doing that, we give ourselves more of a chance to be who we are offensively.”
Mitchell led the way for Indiana, scoring a playoff career-high 27 points against Atlanta. But there were no reinforcements, as Odyssey Sims was the only other Fever player to score 10+ points.
As a team, the Fever shot 34.9% from the field and only made two three-pointers. That made Game 1 one of the team's worst offensive performances of the season.
Perhaps the Fever's multitude of season-ending injuries are finally catching up with them.
But Mitchell also recognized that the game physicality and frequent stoppages made it difficult for Indiana to establish a rhythm. In fact, there were 43 fouls called throughout the game.
The Fever will host the Dream on Tuesday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mitchell is hopeful that playing at home will give them an advantage in the must-win game.
“I think you give yourself an edge as the home team. When they punched us, they punched us hard,” Mitchell said. “And so we have to do the same thing [on Tuesday], vice versa, in order to get our momentum and get that rhythm running fast and off the ground early.”
The path forward for the Fever is clear. They need to win in Game 2 on Tuesday night at home to unlock a winner-takes-all Game 3 in Atlanta.
Game 2 will be Indiana's first home playoff game since 2016, so Gainbridge Fieldhouse is sure to be loud.
The pressure will be on the Fever like never before to get a huge win in front of their home crowd.
