Fever's alternate identity shows up, but believe consistency 'gradually going to happen'
The Sparks defeated the Fever 89-87 on Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, their second win at Indiana in nine days. The Fever were without star Caitlin Clark, who missed her fifth straight game due to a left groin injury.
Sparks forward Azura Stevens scored 21 points and collected 12 rebounds. Sparks guard Kelsey Plum added 20 points. Fever forward Aliyah Boston led all scorers with 23 points and had 12 boards. Natasha Howard had 21 points and Kelsey Mitchell finished with 19.
Fever coach Stephanie White praised Los Angeles for exploiting matchups, in particular when Stevens and Sparks forward Rickea Jackson had smaller players guarding them. White said the Sparks' length affected the Fever's decision making and felt Indiana over penetrated at times and didn't capitalize on reads.
Buy Fever Pitch! IndyStar's book on Caitlin Clark's memorable season
The Commissioner's Cup final doesn't count as a regular season game. As a result, the Fever (9-9) have yet to win three consecutive regular season contests.
To ensure consistency moving forward, White emphasized the need for a 'high attention to knowing personnel,' including 'who we're going to run off the 3-point line' and 'what we're willing to give up.' The Sparks (6-13) shot 45.5% from 3 while the Fever shot 35% from beyond the arc.
'The other piece is making sure we continue to encourage our team to be disruptive,' White said. 'L.A. moved the ball too easily. I don't mean disruptive physically, but not allowing them to move the ball whenever they wanted to.'
Fever guard Sydney Colson finished with six points in 15 minutes. Colson believes consistency will come with time.
'Gradually going to happen over time, and we've seen it over the course of the season, there's been peaks and valleys,' Colson said. 'And you try to lessen how many valleys there are and get to a point where we're having more peaks.'
Before Saturday's game, Indiana held its previous two opponents below 60 points. To Colson, both of those performances reflect the team's identity more than the loss to the Sparks.
Gratitude: The Fever 'thank God for' midseason addition Aari McDonald, who is 5-2 with Indiana
'The last two games are more indicative of who we're becoming and the direction we're going in, but it's not gonna be perfect all the time,' Colson said. 'In games like this, we just have to have a different level of focus from the start, especially when we know that a team has already been on our home court.'
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