The Fever dropped the finale, and the reward is a road trip to face the No. 3 Aces. Indiana Fever Daily Podcast, Joey and Cera, and one analyst thinks this draw actually tilts toward Indiana. We're gonna poke at that. Plus where Clark's season really ranks, and why she's leaning into contact. First, the bracket. The Indianapolis Star's Chloe Peterson is tracking this. Okay. Deep breath. Chloe Peterson has it in the IndyStar this morning: Indiana's the six, Vegas is the three, and I can finally close every standings tab on my phone. Remember the fork we laid out? Atlanta at five, or the Vegas-Golden State three seed at six. It broke toward the harder trip. Indiana's sixth, it's the Aces, and the opener's on the road. Harder trip, sure. But this is a 28-15 team. Nobody in Vegas should be treating that like some cute little six seed that snuck in. I'm not worried about the résumé. I'm worried about the tune-up. The 86-66 finale was a rest game, starters on limited minutes, so the last real competitive rep is days old now. And the first one back? It's in a road building. Rust talk drives me nuts. I'll take fresh legs over somebody tweaking an ankle in a fourth quarter that meant nothing. Let's go to Vegas. Here's Paul Kasabian at Bleacher Report:
She (and the rest of the starters) played limited minutes on Thursday in their loss to the first-place Minnesota Lynx. Clark had a rough shooting night (1-of-12) in an 86-66 loss, but it's full steam ahead to the playoffs for No. 6 seed Indiana now with a first-round date against either the No. 3 seed Las Vegas Aces or Golden State Valkyries.
Okay, Bleacher Report's got the final line and I want it on the record: 22.3 points, third in the league. 8.3 assists, top two. Anybody still calling her a ratings symbol can go read a box score. Forty-four-and-a-half from the field, 31 minutes a night. And remember, last year she played 13 regular-season games and watched the semis from the bench. So this is her first real playoff baseline in two years. And she was on fire coming in! Thirty-point-two and ten dimes over the last five, per B/R. And everybody's gonna fixate on the 1-for-12. Limited minutes, a game that meant nothing, starters sitting. I'm tossing that one. What I care about against Vegas is whether the eight assists hold up when the defense keys on her. Indiana needs the whole offense running through those, not just her shots. Healthy, rested, top-three scorer. I'll take my chances. EssentiallySports, with Joy Bassy:
“I actually think the Aces would be a fine matchup for them because Aaliyah Boston gives A’ja Wilson trouble. They’re without NaLyssa Smith, like they’re kind of bare-bones with that Aces team.” “I feel like the Fever could get it done against them,” DeMita said on her Courtside Club podcast.
Okay, so Rachel DeMita said this on her Courtside Club podcast before the finale, back when fifth versus sixth was still live, and she basically picked the Aces as the friendlier draw. Well, guess what, we got the Aces. Her take: Aliyah Boston gives A'ja Wilson trouble, and Vegas is bare-bones without NaLyssa Smith. And the Smith piece is what makes it a real argument. With her out, Wilson doesn't have a second big to soak up Boston's physicality, so Boston can actually stay attached to her instead of getting pulled into rotations all night. Right, and that's on Stephanie White too. If Vegas is thin up front, you don't go small and ask Boston to guard the world. Keep her fresh, keep her on A'ja, don't let her pick up two cheap ones in the first quarter. I'll slow you down a little, though. 'Gives her trouble' and 'shuts her down' are pretty different things. A'ja Wilson on her home floor in a first-round opener, after Indiana basically rested through an 86-66 finale? I want to see Boston hold up for forty minutes before I call this a favorable series. Fine. But a six seed drawing a three seed with a short bench? I'll take that trip to Vegas every time. Here's Heather Burns at USA TODAY:
It's clear some of that is rubbing off on Fever All-Star Caitlin Clark, whose defense was a big part of their 96-77 victory over the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday, Sept. 22. Yes, Clark scored a team-best 27 points to lead the Fever, but she also had seven rebounds, nine assists and four steals.
Okay, finally, a Clark story about Clark actually playing basketball. Heather Burns at USA TODAY pulls the defense out of that Minnesota game: 27 points, sure, but also nine assists, seven boards, and four steals. And Burns walks you through the possession. 6:56 in the first, Clark jumps a Courtney Williams pass, hits Kelsey Mitchell ahead for the layup, and that kicks off a 6-0 run. That's a coaching fingerprint. White's Connecticut teams had the league's best defensive rating in '23 and '24. Right, and people still talk about her like she's a turnstile you hide on the weak side. Four steals against a Lynx team that doesn't give you anything. Careful, though. It's one game, and the finale was a rest night. Against Las Vegas, the test is whether she can stay in front of their guards without Boston rotating over, because Boston's gonna have her hands full with A'ja Wilson. If you're enjoying the Indiana Fever Daily Podcast, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you're listening. Reviews help other Fever fans find the show, and we appreciate you being here.
Links to every story are in the show notes, so check out the ones that caught your eye and dig in when you've got a minute. That's Indiana Fever Daily Podcast for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.