Indiana Fever hold off Dallas Wings comeback, get the win with Caitlin Clark sidelined
DALLAS – With Caitlin Clark out again, the Indiana Fever turned to their present stars to prevent another late collapse.
Kelsey Mitchell scored 32 points with seven assists and Aliyah Boston scored 21 as the Fever outlasted the Dallas Wings 94-86 at American Airlines Center.
Natasha Howard's 15 points and 13 rebounds included multiple clutch baskets after the Wings took their first lead with under 5:30 to play. On a one-night turnaround after a frustrating home loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday, the Fever summoned enough finish to improve to 8-8.
Three takeaways from Friday's victory:
Friday's game was moved to American Airlines Center to accommodate the first pro matchup between Caitlin Clark and Wings star Paige Bueckers. Dallas set a franchise record by selling out the 20,000-seat arena.
However, anticipation began to dim a bit when Clark missed Thursday's home loss to the Los Angeles Sparks with a left groin injury. Coach Steph White classified her star guard as "day to day." But the Fever ruled her out for Saturday about five-and-a-half hours prior to tipoff.
The Fever improved to 3-4 this season without Clark.
White said Clark remains day-to-day. The team remains "hypersensitive" to the long-term best interests of their franchise star.
The Fever next play Tuesday at Minnesota in the Commissioner's Cup Championship, then return to Indy for a five-game home stand.
White inserted Aali McDonald into the starting lineup, hoping her downhill style and energy would help park a fast start.
Mission accomplished. The Fever built a 19-3 lead over the first five-plus minutes, thriving in transition and playing efficiently in half-court offense. They also locked Paige Bueckers out for a single first-quarter field goal. The entire Wings team went without one for a five-minute, 17-second stretch of the opening period.
Meanwhile, the Fever made 76% of their shots from the field in the first quarter -- helping the lead swell to 23 at one point. They kept that field goal clip going well into the second quarter.
White went into halftime fuming, though. A sloppy end to the second quarter led to a buzzer-beating deep 3 by Bueckers. What had been a 23-point lead was only 13 at intermission.
With 5:27 left in the third quarter, a basket and and-one free throw by former Fever forward NaLysa Smith cut the deficit to three, 62-59.
Boston and Mitchell combined for eight points and two assists over the next few minutes to push the lead back to nine. But Smith's late offensive rebound set up Azaih James' floater in the final seconds. The Fever took a fragile 74-69 lead into the fourth quarter.
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