Fever survive another average performance to beat Tempo for fifth-straight win: Likes and Dislikes
The Fever didn't play well but won again.
MY NEW OFFICE, Ind. – The Indiana Fever were in Canada for the first time since the Toronto Tempo expansion franchise was formed for the 2026 season. It was the second meeting between the Fever and Tempo this year – the Fever rolled to a 22-point win in June.
The Fever have the WNBA's top offense while the Tempo have the league's worst defense. Brittney Sykes was back for the hosts, yet the stats certainly suggested that Indiana could be in for a high-scoring night.
It was a chance for the Fever to win five-straight games and an opportunity for Kelsey Mitchell to reach 20 consecutive outings with 20 points scored. Likes and Dislikes from Fever vs Tempo.
Tony East
LIKE: Early role player activity
The Fever's first basket? That came off of a tidy and controlled drive from Lexie Hull.
The Fever's third basket? That came from Makayla Timpson, who finished a putback layup. After 3.5 minutes of action, the Fever were ahead 10-4 and were getting good activity from their role players.
Timpson and Hull both pulled in one offensive rebound in the opening stretch and provided nice around-the-basket defense. As a team the Fever were struggling on the glass, but their role players were contributing and helping the group control the action in every other way early.
Hull drilled a long two with 6:07 on the clock in the first quarter, which forced a Tempo timeout. It was 12-4 at the time, and half of the Fever's points were from non-star pieces.
LIKE: The least surprising hot start
Seven minutes into the game, Mitchell was 4/6 with 11 points.
Moments later, she hit another three-point shot.
The league's second-leading scorer, who hasn't scored less than 20 points in a game since June 20, was absolutely frying the Tempo defense to start this game. It was the least surprising dominant quarter in recent memory.
The Fever made several lazy plays in the first quarter. Yet Mitchell's dominance helped the Fever lead 33-23 after one frame. She had 16 points at the time.
DISLIKE: Nothing of note to start the second quarter
The first 3.5 minutes of the second quarter were rather pedestrian for the Fever. Fortunately, the Tempo did little to punish them.
But in that stretch, the Fever scored just five points on 2/6 shooting, lost the rebounding battle 5-1, and didn't move the ball well. They were sputtering for a moment as their 10-point lead kept getting cut down.
And yet, moments later, they were still up 10. Even at their worst, the Fever kept the Tempo away – they weren't playing well to open the second frame. Yet moments after this stretch, the Fever's stars got things back on track.
DISLIKE: The close of the second quarter
The Fever ballooned their lead to 17 after the above run of play, but their close to the second quarter was a mess. The Tempo were hot on jumpers.
Toronto scored 15 points in the final 3:16 of the first half and eight in the last 92 seconds. Every made shot from the Tempo in that final stretch was from 15 feet away or further.
They were hot, but the Fever defense tripped for a few minutes. The beginning and end of the second quarter ruined a strong middle portion, and the Fever lead was 57-49 at halftime.
DISLIKE: Intensity from a heater
Tempo guard Marina Mabrey, who can get hot in an instant, did exactly that to open the third quarter. She hit two quick threes to help Toronto cut the Fever's lead down to just four.
She was warm, then got tangled up with Mitchell on the other end of the court. Mitchell and Mabrey exchanged words, with Mitchell pointing right in the Tempo star's face.
They were both issued technical fouls. The intensity was fun, but the Fever won't be happy it came from a Toronto mini-heater.
LIKE: Matching a record
Mitchell raced ahead in transition in the middle of the third quarter, and Caitlin Clark tossed a gorgeous pass ahead to give Mitchell an open layup on the right side.
The in-close shot dropped and gave Mitchell 20 points. It became official at that moment: Kelsey Mitchell had scored 20 or more points in 20-straight games. That extended the WNBA single-season record and tied the all-time record (A'ja Wilson with five games at the end of the 2023 season, then 15 at the start of 2024).
DISLIKE: The possession battle
Fever head coach Stephanie White took a timeout with 4:10 on the clock in the third quarter. It was only a 13-10 frame in favor of Toronto at that point, but it felt much worse for the Fever.
The Fever had six turnovers in the period already, and the Tempo had four offensive rebounds. The hosts were dominating the possession battle and had taken seven more shots in the second half to that point.
That is extremely hard to overcome. The Fever needed to regroup and focus on getting the basketball in their hands.
LIKE: Responding
The Fever lead was down to five with four minutes to go in the third quarter. Then Mitchell, who made history earlier in the quarter, emerged again.
She scored nine points in the final four minutes of the third quarter, more than the Tempo's entire team (seven). The Fever used Mitchell's heater to go on a run and expand their edge back to double digits.
It was 81-69 Fever after three frames. Mitchell had 29 points already, including 11 in the third alone.
DISLIKE: Not enough offense
The Fever kept the Tempo away because of their good-enough defense to open the fourth period. Toronto scored just 12 points in six minutes to open the quarter and was 4/12 from the field.
But the Fever were worse on offense. They started the final quarter 2/9 from the field with three turnovers, scoring just nine points in that stretch. Their lead was down to nine with four minutes to go. And to make matters worse, Mitchell went back to the locker room with an injury during this stretch.
LIKE: A dagger
The Fever's close to the game was not inspiring in most ways. But they did just enough to close out the Tempo with sporadic successes.
Their dagger came from Sophie Cunningham, who hit a corner three from the right side that gave the Fever a 10-point lead with less than 90 seconds to go.
That proved to be enough despite a choppy finish and a late rolled ankle for Cunningham. It wasn't an A-game for the Fever, their third game in a row at that level. But it was enough for a win, their fifth in a row.
The final score was 101-95. The Fever are now 24-12.
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