The Indiana Fever edged past the Atlanta Dream 95-91 on Sunday at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The win moved Caitlin Clark and the Fever closer to securing a playoff spot and home-court advantage by finishing in the top four, something Angel Reese and Atlanta would now face difficulty in achieving, as they now sit fifth in the standings with a 21-13 record. For WNBA analysts Erica L. Ayala and Alicia Jay, it was a game of missed chances for Atlanta, as they blasted their poor finishing in overtime.
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“You talked about the regular versus the OT, I mean, Howard missed a three that could have got it for him. Angel Reese missed a layup, and so did Naz Hillmon. They had three chances right at the end to get that win. That was hard to watch,” Alicia Jay said on the We Need To Talk podcast on August 17.
Her response came to Ayala, who fixated on the fact that the Dream’s performance was defined by the number of turnovers the Indiana Fever were able to grab.
“But the fact that this was a four-point game in overtime, knowing that I believe it was 14 turnovers, Alicia, for 22 Indiana Fever points, 14 Atlanta turnovers for 22 Indiana Fever points. To me, that’s the story of this game.”
According to ESPN team stats, there were 15 Atlanta turnovers, not 14 as Ayala stated. In contrast, the Fever had just nine turnovers, yielding only eight points for the Dream. Jay was kind enough to address the issues that the Dream faced with players as well, but she did not fail to give the Fever their flowers.
“But you know, I, like you said, they were down players; they didn’t play very well. I just, I know that Dream team is better than they were yesterday, but also the Fever took care of business.”
Atlanta could only convert 35% of their field goals on the night, compared to Indiana’s 44%, in what was a closely contested game. Caitlin Clark finished the night with 26 points and nine assists, shooting 45% from the field. She made two crucial free throws late in OT as Atlanta came within two points of leveling the game, at 93-91.
Dream guard Allisha Gray’s career-high score of 32 points went in vain as Atlanta registered three misses in their final possession in regular time, something that could have turned the tide of the game in their favor. Rhyne Howard, Reese, and Naz Hillmon all missed essential buckets inside the paint in the final minutes of the game.
The Dream were also missing some key players due to injuries. Guard Jordin Canada was unavailable due to illness, and Brionna Jones also missed the game with a left leg injury.
For Indiana, Makayla Timpson scored a career-high 20 points, and Kelsey Mitchell continued her impressive streak of scoring at least 20 points, this being her 19th consecutive game.
The Fever will look to solidify their position in the table as they take on the Toronto Tempo next.