The Atlanta Dream walked into Gainbridge Fieldhouse and found a test that felt closer to October than June. They answered it with enough poise to leave Indianapolis with a 108-101 win over the Indiana Fever.
Indiana erased a 13-point deficit and tied the game on a Sophie Cunningham reverse layup with 5:08 left, but Atlanta quickly regained control. The Dream closed with a 13-6 run and handed the Fever only their third loss of the season when scoring 100 or more points.
Atlanta wins the late-game battle
Angel Reese led Atlanta with 21 points and 11 rebounds despite picking up her fourth foul in the second quarter. Rhyne Howard added 16 points, six assists and five rebounds as the Dream improved to 10-4.
Karl Smesko said the kind of edge both teams showed will help Atlanta handle high-pressure games later on. “The more you play in playoff intensity games that has this type of edge to it and when both teams are playing at that level where they’re both playing really well … the more comfortable you’ll be in those situations,” he said.
Reese said Atlanta avoided getting too relaxed after Indiana’s comeback. “We kind of talked a little bit at halftime about not getting comfortable,” Reese said. “I think we kind of stayed together and continued to push.”
Indiana’s comeback falls short
The Fever had already shown they could score in bursts, and they did it again behind Kelsey Mitchell, Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston. Mitchell finished with 26 points, while Clark also scored 26 and added seven assists, and Boston had 23 points and eight rebounds.
Mitchell also became the eighth player in WNBA history to reach 700 career 3-pointers. The three Fever stars became the only trio in the league to have multiple 20-point games this season, doing it six times and tying for the second most by a WNBA trio in history.
Clark also drew attention before tipoff by debuting her Nike signature shoe, the Caitlin 1, after announcing it publicly the day before. She said she was amused by the reaction to the footwear, noting, “I’ve never had so many people staring at my feet or taking pictures of my feet, which is a little weird, but I’ll let it slide in this scenario.”
The two teams will meet again Saturday in Atlanta, giving both sides another early-season measuring stick in a matchup that already looks like one of the WNBA’s most compelling rivalries.