Fever crush Aces after a week of practice times: Likes and Dislikes
The Fever were finally back in action on Sunday night.
MY OFFICE, Ind. – After a full week without playing a game, the Indiana Fever were finally back in action on Sunday night. And it was a big one in Las Vegas against the reigning champion Aces.
The intensity was going to be there after the Aces eliminated the Fever in a dramatic semifinal series last season. But some of the star power was missing – Caitlin Clark (back) and A'ja Wilson (leg) were both out. There was still plenty of talent on both sides, but it doesn't get bigger than those two when it comes to absences.
The Fever were rested. But would they be rusty? That would be telling early. Like and dislikes from Fever vs Aces.
Tony East
LIKE: Tactical delight to kick things off
The Fever were getting some of their early possessions started by lifting Kelsey Mitchell from the right corner so she could attack with her left hand. One play starting with that action ended with a Mitchell long two. Another featured a quick pass from Mitchell to Aliyah Boston, and that led to points.
Boston's rim pressure, in part, led to two fouls for Aces forward NaLyssa Smith. She exited the game early for Brianna Turner. The Fever's offensive tactics were working to kick things off
The same was true of the Aces. They were attacking the paint and forcing Boston to defend in space as much as possible. That either opened up the rim or created an open three elsewhere. Chelsea Gray's passing was sublime, too.
Both teams had obvious plans early. The Aces were held back by their turnovers – and the Fever deserved credit for forcing them – while the Fever were limited by a 5/11 start, including 1/4 from the foul line. It was tied after five fun minutes to start the game.
DISLIKE: Early struggles at the foul line
The Fever attempted eight free throws in the first quarter. They made just three of them.
All eight attempts were from Boston and Mitchell. Boston went 1/4 while Mitchell missed two of her four attempts. Despite decent execution otherwise, the Fever were failing at the charity stripe.
Monique Billings stepped up on offense in the middle of the quarter. Sophie Cunningham provided some important energy. Makayla Timpson pulled in a few impressive rebounds. But the Fever's struggles at the foul line were too damaging, and they were down 24-23 after the first quarter.
DISLIKE: Ball movement in the first half
Cunningham participated in a mid-game interview on the ESPN broadcast of the game and shared her opinions on the Fever's ball movement. Her thought: It wasn't good enough.
They were too stagnant. The stars, Boston and Mitchell, were playing well enough to keep the Fever scoring at a good-enough rate. But just before the midway point of the second quarter, the Fever had 12 made shots. Just six of them were assisted. For the season, about 65% of the Fever's makes have been set up by a pass.
Indiana needed to find their mojo on offense, even without Clark. They were too reliant on their stars, not their system, throughout much of the first half.
LIKE: The stars, as usual
Mitchell was a blur with the ball. She wiggled free for 10 shot attempts in just the first half, making four of them. She drilled two threes and faced a ton of defensive attention.
Boston, meanwhile, controlled the game down low on both ends. She was just 3/7 from the field at halftime but had seven rebounds.
Those two, as was needed with Clark out, were guiding the Fever in the first two quarters. They had nearly half of the team's points as the midway break arrived. And that break came after a fun half of basketball – the biggest lead was six, so it was always a one or two-possession game. A Lexie Hull buzzer beater gave Indiana a 42-41 lead at halftime.
LIKE: Three-point shooting to stay ahead
The Fever were 7/17 from deep about halfway through the third quarter, but all seven of their triples were important for different reasons.
Boston had two of them, and her outside shot continues to be a major story for the Fever this season. She can pop or roll after setting screens, which adds a dimension to the team's offense.
Cunningham had a pair of outside shots to that point, and they were both deep threes. One came after relocating while moving at a dead sprint, a very difficult shot. Cunningham's impact was massive through 2.5 quarters.
Every other outside shot had come from Mitchell to that point, and she was 3/6 from deep. Those three gave the Fever a ton of spacing and started off a great third quarter on the right note.
LIKE: Finally breaking the game open
After the first half was tight for 20 minutes, the Fever broke the game open in the third quarter. Their offense was terrific, scoring 22 points in just over seven minutes to begin the frame.
Their defense was just as good, allowing 10 points in the same stretch. Their lead reached 13 with under 13 minutes to go in the game thanks to that dominant run – it felt at the time like Indiana's rest advantage was finally giving them an edge.
That 13-point lead held after three quarters. The Fever were ahead 68-55 going into the fourth period.
LIKE: Possession battle dominance
The Fever were up 11 with about six minutes to go, yet each team was shooting about 42% at the time. The key reason Indiana led by double digits? They were dominating the possession battle.
At that moment, Indiana held a 34-25 advantage on the glass, including a +8 edge on the offensive boards. And the turnover battle favored the Fever 11-6.
The Fever, as a result, had taken 17 more shots – though Vegas attempting more foul shots was also a factor in that discrepancy. Despite the possession battle success, the Fever needed one more push to close out the game.
LIKE: Defense to close the game
The Fever were excellent on defense down the stretch.
After giving up over 20 points in each of the first two quarters, Indiana tightened up to secure the win. They held the Aces to just 14 points in the third quarter, then 13 in the fourth. Limiting any opponent to 27 points in a half is terrific, nonetheless a talented Aces team (even without Wilson).
Vegas shot 9/26 in the second half and had seven turnovers. The Fever kept them in check to grab a win to start their road trip.
It's the first-ever win for the Fever in Las Vegas, and they improved to 12-8 with the victory. The final score: Fever 84, Aces 68.
Thank you for reading. Finally, the Fever were back in action after a busy week of practice. Some of those practices were covered in notebook form on this website, plus at The IX. Sign up below to have stories about the Fever and Pacers email directly to your email inbox.
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