Flat Fever performance leads to loss vs Wings as Kelsey Mitchell makes history: Likes and Dislikes
The Fever's winning streak is over.
MY OFFICE CHAIR, Ind. – The Fever were in Dallas on Thursday night to battle the Wings, and it was a huge game. The winner of this one would secure the playoff seeding tiebreaker between the two teams by taking the head-to-head season series 2-1. Entering the night, the Fever had built a four-game lead in the standings over the Wings.
Dallas, who lost Azzi Fudd for the season recently, opened the game with a huge lineup on the floor – all three of Awak Kuier, Alanna Smith, and Jessica Shepard started for the Wings. That was a lot of size for the Fever, particularly wing Lexie Hull, to handle.
Less than a week ago, the Fever beat the Wings by 11. Likes and Dislikes from the final 2026 regular season meeting between Indiana and Dallas.
Tony East
LIKE: Doing it all to kick things off
There was no single factor that guided the Fever's early play – rather, they were succeeding in multiple ways against Dallas' bigger opening unit.
Lexie Hull hit a mid-range shot in transition, then drew a foul. Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston each drew contact as well. The Fever hit their first six foul shots, and their stars were getting free early.
Caitlin Clark hit a three. Mitchell knocked down an 18-foot attempt. The Fever did enough defensively to turn stops into offense. All of this happened in the first four minutes of action as the Fever built a five-point lead.
It was a strong start for the Fever without dominating in any one aspect of the game, though by the end of the quarter they had created some separation at the charity stripe.
DISLIKE: Containing Jessica Shepard
The Wings big lineup allowed Shepard to have favorable matchups, and thus easier shots, throughout the first quarter.
She started 5/6 from the field and pulled in three quick rebounds. Her footwork was impressive. If not for a crummy start at the foul line (1/4), it would have been a basically perfect frame for the Wings All-Star.
The Fever needed to find better strategies to slow her down. Static double teams and switches weren't cutting it, and their early second-quarter defense wasn't any better in that regard. It was 22-18 Fever after one frame.
FUN: Kelsey Mitchell vs Jessica Shepard
On one hand, the Fever still couldn't contain Shepard. She reached 20 points well before halftime and added to her strong night with quality passing and rebounding.
On the other hand, Mitchell was rolling for the Fever. After hitting a triple with 3.5 minutes to go in the first half, Mitchell already had 16 points. She and Shepard had a combined 36 points, over half of the total in the game (67) at that moment.
That duel was fun and made for a seesaw game as the team's traded the lead during the second quarter.
LIKE: History
No more caveats about "in a single season" required – Kelsey Mitchell now holds the longest-ever streak of consecutive 20-plus point games in WNBA history. She reached 21 points with a basket just before halftime, putting her alone in the record books.
Mitchell passed A'ja Wilson, who had a streak of 20 games. Five of them came at the end of the 2023 season while the final 15 came in 2024. Mitchell's games have all come in the 2026 campaign.
She has scored 20+ points in every Fever game since June 22. And her record-confirming basket tied the game just before halftime. It was 42-42 at the break.
LIKE: An important stretch from Lexie Hull
In a 55-second sequence during the third quarter, Lexie Hull had one of her more memorable runs of play this season.
It started with an offensive rebound, then a cut after giving up the ball. That led to a layup. She was blocked at the rim on her next shot attempt but still finished the next possession with a made corner three.
That outside shot put Hull's point total at nine, which was already her most since July 9. Add in a rebound and noticeable defense, and it was one of Hull's best stretches in a while.
DISLIKE: Slowing Arike Ogunbowale
Shepard was a tough cover for the Fever in the first half. Arike Ogunbowale took that role in the third quarter.
The star guard scored 14 points in under eight minutes to open the second half, hitting difficult, self-created jumpers throughout the third frame. She started the quarter 6/6 from the field.
Kuier was the only other Wings player to even hit a shot across the first 8.5 minutes of the period, yet Dallas still built a lead thanks to Ogunbowale's run and strong defense. By the end of the third quarter, it was 66-61. The Fever's offense was struggling.
DISLIKE: Offensive woes
Dallas' lead reached 10 with about 7:30 to go in the game, and the Fever offense was in the middle of a lull. They weren't able to generate as many good shots as they normally do.
From the 4:30 mark of the third quarter to the 6:30 mark of the fourth quarter (eight minutes of action), the Fever scored just 15 points. They shot 5/12 from the field and had two turnovers in that span. Mitchell and Makayla Timpson were the only players with multiple made shots during that stretch.
That's not awful, but the Fever felt flat – especially as the Wings pushed hard in the open floor and used their speed to score after stops. The Fever defense wasn't much better, but they rarely struggle with scoring to this extent.
DISLIKE: Among the worst
This was one of the Fever's worst nights in terms of production all season.
They scored just 85 points, their eighth-lowest (tied) of the season. The Fever are 4-5 when they score less than 86 points this year.
And that happened in spite of Mitchell scoring 37 points. Elsewhere, Fever players struggled. Kuier, Ogunbowale, and Shepard set the tone, and the pace, in this outing. The Fever were rarely in a groove all night – and they never were in the second half.
It was one of their more forgettable games of the season. The Wings beat the Fever 91-85 as the Fever's record dropped to 24-13. Dallas took the season series 2-1.
Thank you for reading. The Fever have a back-to-back coming this weekend, and I will be at the second game in Chicago. Sign up to have stories from those games sent directly to your email inbox.
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