Indiana Fever survive in overtime against Chicago Sky for second-straight win, Likes and Dislikes

INDIANAPOLIS – Round one of Indiana Fever vs Chicago Sky for 2026 took place in Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Thursday night. The Fever have dominated this matchup in recent years, and the Sky are slumping right now. But nothing has been easy for the Fever of late.

Back from a short road trip, the Fever were hoping for a better performance. They snuck out of Washington with a win thanks to heroics from Caitlin Clark a few days after a disaster fourth quarter led to a loss in New York

Their offense has been off. Thursday night was a chance to fix that, though the Fever went 0/4 on their first possession of the game. Likes and dislikes from Fever vs Sky.

Circle City Spin

The Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, up close

Circle City SpinTony East

LIKE: Early three-point shooting

So, ignoring that 0/4 possession to start the game (which included a pair of missed threes), the Fever started off the game warm from beyond the arc.

Aliyah Boston found herself wide open and hit two in the first few minutes of the game. Clark drilled one from 29 feet out. The Fever were generating great looks from deep, and their stars were hitting them early.

Raven Johnson joined the fun about six minutes into the game. At that point, the Fever had made four shots. All of them were from beyond the arc. They didn't make a two-point look until they had 17 points. The three ball had the Fever rolling early.

LIKE: Pesky defense in the first quarter

Chicago reached seven points with 7:17 on the clock in the first quarter. When the buzzer sounded to end the frame, they had 14.

The Fever held the Sky to seven points in over seven minutes to close the period. In that stretch, Chicago shot 3/15 and had four turnovers. The Fever's defense was excellent, even with bench players on the court.

After 10 minutes: Fever 27, Sky 14.

LIKE: Dominating much of the first half

The Fever, without Sophie Cunningham, had to turn to smaller groups with their second unit. That included, for example, both Johnson and Tyasha Harris playing together with some unique frontcourt combinations.

It didn't matter who was on the floor early. The Fever were clicking. After the game was tied at seven, it was all Indiana. They went on a 28-9 run to break the game wide open.

Their defense, as mentioned above, was connected and deployed multiple coverages. Their offense was just as good, hitting 13/21 shots after starting 0/5. The Sky looked inferior in every way halfway through the second quarter.

DISLIKE: Letting go of the rope before halftime

The Fever eased up some down the stretch of the second quarter, and much of it was self inflicted. Their defense gave up multiple easy trips to the rim while their offense stumbled.

The score was 44-26 with 3:30 until halftime. With 1:40 on the clock, it was 44-35, marking a 9-0 Sky run in less than two minutes. In that stretch, Chicago went 4/4 from the field while the Fever had four turnovers.

After playing well for 16 minutes to open the half, the Fever's lead was down to single digits at halftime. They completely let go of the rope.

Halftime score: Fever 46, Sky 40.

DISLIKE: Frustrations and poor play

The Fever's lead, once 44-26, was gone before the third quarter was halfway over. The Sky went on a 30-9 run to take the lead. They were living at the rim on offense. Indiana could hardly score.

Suddenly, whistles were injected into the game. During the Sky's 30-9 run (they shot 11/13 from the field while the Fever were 4/13 with six turnovers), 11 fouls were called. Eight of them were on the Fever, plus a technical foul on Clark. So it was 11 fouls in about seven minutes.

In the first 16.5 minutes of the game, 13 fouls were called. It felt like a different game, though the Fever were also just getting beat on defense more often. Still, they were frustrated, and it led to that tech for Clark after she felt she was fouled driving for a layup. The Fever took a timeout, then went on a 5-0 run to reclaim the lead. But their poor play and frustrations were clear.

LIKE: Responding to their worst stretches

After falling behind by three, the Fever took a timeout. The Sky missed the foul shot they were given from Clark's technical foul. And for the next few minutes, the Fever settled back in.

Outside of fouls from Boston, who racked up four in less than seven minutes, the Fever were composed after the stoppage. They went on a 10-3 run to reclaim the lead and forced Chicago to take a timeout. It was the exact stretch they needed after a difficult run to open the second half.

DISLIKE: Not stopping Sydney Taylor

Undrafted rookie Sydney Taylor was unguardable down the stretch of the third quarter. She scored 16 points in the frame, more than she had scored during all but one game of her entire career. She shot 5/6 from the field, made two threes, and got to the foul line twice.

She was the face of the Fever's defensive problems in the third frame. All of her dominant run came in the final 3:50 of the period – in that stretch, the Fever went from up seven to down six. She changed the game.

After three quarters: Sky 79, Fever 73.

LIKE: Starting the fourth quarter off right

The Fever absolutely had to respond to Taylor's heater. The start of the fourth quarter was an important stretch for the reeling group.

They handled it well. Clark and Boston, in particular, stepped up and the Fever quickly tied the game with an 8-2 run. It was 81-81 with 7:50 to go.

LIKE: Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark to open the fourth

Clark and Boston had wonderful synergy to start the final quarter. They routinely played off of each other to kick off the fourth, and the Sky were struggling to slow them down.

Clark drove hard and drew in defenders after Boston screens. Boston cut at opportune times, and she bullied Sky post players when given the chance to do so. The Fever's stars were doing all they could to will the Fever to victory.

After seven minutes of fourth-quarter play, those two had combined for 13 of the team's 19 points in the quarter. And the Fever were ahead by three.

MASSIVE DISLIKE: Disaster in the final seconds

The Fever were ahead by five points with nine seconds to go, and Taylor had just missed a three for the Sky. Then, the Fever made several terrible plays.

-Offensive rebound by Elizabeth Williams

-Williams fouled by Mitchell, makes both free throws

-The Fever, with the ball up by three and seven seconds left, turned it over. Mitchell fumbled her handle.

-Up three with five seconds left, the Fever didn't foul. Skylar Diggins drilled a triple with 0.9 seconds to go.

From up five to overtime in less than 10 seconds. A disaster.

LIKE: Clark and Boston, again, in overtime

The start of the fourth quarter and the start of overtime were very similar: Clark and Boston took over again.

Boston's force and screening were as good as ever. Clark's reads were sublime. The two were in sync and controlled the game.

With less than 100 seconds to go, Boston hit a jumper to reach 32 points. That marked her career high, and she had a double-double. She was impossible to handle. Those two ignited the Fever overtime push and had the team up seven with 1:10 left.

DISLIKE: Shutting the door faintly

The Fever couldn't help but mix in a foul on a three-point shooter (Mitchell committed the foul), a missed foul shot (Mitchell, again), and a turnover (Clark just barely not making it across the timeline within eight seconds) all in the final 65 seconds. Mitchell really struggled in crunch time in this outing.

Instead of slamming the door shut, the Fever made a few errors late. It was a one-possession game with 24.1 seconds to go.

But the Fever were good enough in the overtime period to hang on. Clark and Boston combined for 66 points, and the Fever improved to 7-5 with a 114-106 win.

The Fever next play on Saturday in Connecticut. Sign up for more stories about their on-court play and more.