On brink of playoff elimination, Fever are banking on resilience in Game 2

ATLANTA -- DJ Khaled's "All I Do Is Win" was blaring, and Atlanta Dream fans were inactive celebrating arsenic Indiana Fever stars Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark walked disconnected the level aft suffering an 80-68 nonaccomplishment successful Game 1 of their opening circular bid of the 2025 WNBA playoffs.

Clark, not successful azygous aft being ruled retired for the play Sept. 4, patted Mitchell connected the backmost aft her 27-point performance, a playoff vocation high. The 2 covered their mouths to evade lip-readers arsenic they chatted earlier Clark wrapped her limb astir Mitchell and walked into the tunnel.

This wasn't however this play was expected to spell for the Fever: Clark, caller disconnected a dazzling Rookie of the Year campaign, alongside 4 others relegated to the seat with season-ending injuries, and Indiana connected the brink of a first-round playoff exit.

But the Fever are accustomed to playing with their play connected the line. This is the latest situation they person faced successful a topsy-turvy season.

They had to combat until the past time of the play to scope the playoffs, warding disconnected the Los Angeles Sparks and Washington Mystics to clinch a 2nd consecutive postseason bid. Most of Indiana's games during August and September, players and coaches said, were played with playoff-level urgency. Through it all, they insisted that they didn't privation to conscionable marque the playoffs, but -- arsenic manager Stephanie White implored her players successful the locker country aft they secured the playoff spot -- "scare the hellhole retired of this league."

"This is simply a bare group... you tin spot that they are bare for success, that they privation to proceed to turn and proceed to get better," White said Sept. 5. "Some different teams that mightiness not beryllium arsenic beardown culturally oregon beryllium arsenic resilient could person folded aggregate times. And this radical hasn't."

The Fever anticipation that resoluteness volition propel them to a winner-take-all Game 3 successful Atlanta, wherever they could unafraid their archetypal playoff bid triumph since 2015.

Indiana has 1 vantage for Tuesday's Game 2 (7:30 p.m. ET connected ESPN): Thanks to the WNBA's caller 1-1-1 first-round format, the Fever volition play successful beforehand of their location crowd.

Even with instrumentality favourite Clark sidelined for overmuch of the year, Indiana averaged 16,560 fans per game, 2nd lone to the upstart Golden State Valkyries.

"I retrieve a twelvemonth agone [coaching] successful Connecticut, it was like, 'Thank God we didn't person to spell backmost to Indiana,'" White said Saturday. "I'm thankful for our fans that they're going to person this opportunity."

Still, the franchise volition big its archetypal playoff crippled since 2016 nether overmuch antithetic circumstances than it anticipated earlier this year.

Indiana had established itself arsenic an aboriginal title contender aft a productive offseason erstwhile it paired its promising young halfway with upgraded seasoned talent. But the Fever had to reinvent themselves aggregate times passim the summer, with their existent roster a acold outcry from the 1 they constructed successful January and February. First, DeWanna Bonner departed aft 9 games, past came the slew of injuries. Clark was constricted to 13 games -- her past quality was earlier the All-Star interruption successful July -- and 4 different players were ruled retired successful the 2nd fractional of the season.

The Fever's ceiling inevitably lowered with ...