The Indiana Fever were on the edge of advancing to their second WNBA Finals in the last three years Monday night. They came so close to finishing off the Chicago Sky on the road, but they fell in double-overtime.
The teams returned to Indianapolis for a decisive Game 3 Wednesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, where the Fever were 3-0 this season vs the Sky, including Game 1 of this Eastern Conference Finals.
Indiana slipped behind 7-3 — and led just once in the game (for 14 seconds) in a 75-62 loss in front of an announced crowd of 7,705.
They lacked any kind of flow all night, shot 34.4 percent, and gave up seven 3-pointers to the Sky, who were 5-for-19 from long distance in the first two games combined.
“I was concerned about tonight’s game because of the enormous amount of energy that we extended in the double-overtime game,” said Fever coach Lin Dunn. “I felt like we should’ve won it in regulation but we missed that box-out.”
Indiana opened the game like this: turnover, turnover, miss, miss, 3-pointer, turnover, miss, turnover. Four of their 12 turnovers came in the first four minutes. Not the type of tone the Fever want to set for the rest of the game.
“It kind of sent a message that we were mentally still fatigued from that game,” Dunn said of their start.
The Fever trailed by four after one period of play and by eight at the break. The Sky, who are advancing to their first WNBA Finals in franchise history, led by as many as 14 points.
“You have to give Chicago credit,” Dunn said. “They played with the sense of urgency and the intensity that we played with in ’09 when we had never been to the Finals. I could sense that in them, the desperation to get to the Finals.”
Indiana didn’t get its usual heavy dose from 9-time All-Star Tamika Catchings. She was just 2-of-9 from the field and finished with nine points and seven rebounds.
“I let my team down,” Catchings said postgame. “The last three games I just haven’t played the best that I could to help this team. I think that this team relies on me to come in and being effective, and offensively I just couldn’t get it going.
“I think the biggest thing is that my team, when they looked for me to step up, I just didn’t.”
Catchings accepted blame, but it wasn’t all on her shoulders. The team shot just 2-of-14 from 3-point range, got to the free throw line just six times in the first half, and weren’t in sync all night.
Shavonte Zellous was on the only Indiana player in double figures with 16. Catchings, Briann January, and Erlana Larkins each added nine.
The most surprising thing about the Sky’s upset win is that they did it with little contribution from its leader, Elena Delle Donne. She had a heat pack on her lower back for most of the second half and tallied just just four points and an assist in 21 minutes.
Allie Quigley, once a member of the Fever, connected on 7-of-9 shots, including 4-of-6 from deep, to record a playoff career-high 24 points off the bench. Usually reserved to sent to the corner to shoot, she clearly expanded her game to create off the dribble and fire it inside. Sylvia Fowles contributed 17 points and seven rebounds.
“I’m disappointed that we didn’t play a better game,” said Dunn.
Lin Dunn’s banner hangs in Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
“I just felt like our timing was off. Not a good screen here, a little bad pass there. I didn’t think our offensive execution was good. I’d like to give Chicago all the credit but I think, in certain situations, maybe shot ourselves in the foot a little bit.”
And with the loss, coach Lin Dunn’s illustrious coaching career comes to an end. The longtime women’s coach said before the season this was her last year — after directing the Fever for the past seven seasons (2008-2014). She was an assistant with the team the four previous years (2004-08).
Dunn finishes her coaching career third in WNBA Playoffs history in victories (23-20). The Fever made 10 straight playoff appearances, the last seven solely on her watch.
“I feel like I left the franchise in a good place — one game from the Finals,” she said, as she got a little teary-eyed. “It was tough to say goodbye to the team in the locker room.”
Despite giving away a great opportunity to sweep the Sky in Game 2, the Fever have a lot to feel good about this season. Jeanette Pohlen tore her Achilles before the season even began. Catchings missed the first 17 games of the season with a back injury, but they held up reasonably well. And despite a sub-.500 record, they were oh-so-close to another WNBA Finals appearance.
“This team was awesome and everybody stepped up,” Fever point guard Briann January reflected on the season. “… We had a ton of new people that came in this year and it was definitely a transition year when it came to a new core and bringing along a new bench squad. It was a lot of transition for us, but for us to come this far with all of those changes and all the adversity – with Catch being injured – I’m so proud of this team. We’re going to take this and we’re going to get better next year.”
Paul George repped Tamika Catchings’ jersey at Wednesday’s game.
Notes:
- The Sky were 4-3 in head-to-head meetings with the Fever this season, including the postseason.
- The Fever were previously 8-1 at home in elimination contests.
- In the final game she coached, Lin Dunn received a technical foul. It came with with 1:39 left. It didn’t make a difference as the Sky missed the foul shot and were already ahead by double digits.
- Prior to the tip, January was awarded the WNBA Cares Community Assist Award presented by State Farm for her remarkable generosity and charitable efforts throughout August. In honor of January’s work, the WNBA and State Farm will donate $7,500 to Domestic Abuse & Sexual Assault Intervention Services (DASI).
- In the stands: owner Herb Simon, PS&E President Jim Morris, VP of Basketball Operations Peter Dinwiddie, Paul George (in a Catchings jersey), Chris Copeland (in a Larkins jersey), Donald Sloan (in a Catchings jersey), Solomon Hill, and Shayne Whittington.
- Pacers coach Frank Vogel donated 500 tickets to fans, which were snatched up in just a few hours Tuesday morning.