The Fever Broke The Storm
The Indiana Fever |A|
started their post-Olympic portion |B|
of the season with |C|
a party. On Friday |D|
night, they scored 98 |E|
points against the Phoenix |F|
Mercury, winning by nine |G|
in a game where |H|
Caitlin Clark popped off |J|
for 29 points and |K|
10 assists. Sundays game |L|
against the Seattle Storm, |M|
however, promised to be |O|
an altogether different experience. |P|
Its one thing for |Q|
a well-rested Clark and |R|
the Fever to run |S|
up the score on |U|
an opponent as defense-averse |V|
as the Mercury, but |Y|
the Storm dont tend |Z|
to make life easy |A|
on opposing offenses. The |B|
Fever shredded them anyway, |C|
winning Sundays game 92-75. |D|
It was the |V| defense that let Seattle |Y| down this time, but |Z| not all at once. |A| The Storm started the |B| game doing what they |C| usually do: constricting the |D| Fevers possessions by not |E| allowing Clark to run |F| her teams offense from |G| a place of comfort. |H| The Storm have the |J| kind of lineup that |K| allows them to do |L| this: Their guards are |M| stout and feisty at |O| the point of attack, |P| their bigs are long |Q| and mobile, and they |R| can switch everything. The |S| Fever shot 33 percent |U| from the floor in |V| a first half in |Y| which Clark went 3-of-10 |Z| from the field and |A| 0-of-5 from three-point range, |B| and Indianas entire roster |C| was being hunted by |D| Ezi Magbegor. The Storms |E| do-it-all center knits their |F| whole defensive scheme together |G| with her switchability and |H| rim protection, and she |J| was busy snuffing out |K| possession after possession. She |L| finished the game with |M| five blocks, seven rebounds, |O| and the kind of |P| overall defensive performance that |Q| should have her in |R| the running for Defensive |S| Player of the Year.
|U| dir="ltr">The thing about a |V| defense like Seattles is |Y| that its hard to |Z| get it scrambling. Theyre |A| too good and too |B| quick to be made |C| uncomfortable by something as |D| vanilla as a pick-and-roll, |E| even one involving a |F| tandem as potent as |G| Clark and Aliyah Boston. |H| Unlocking a defense like |J| that requires something extra. |K| It requires the kind |L| of audacity that convinces |M| a player to start |O| throwing high-risk/high-reward passes that |P| can instantly destabilize even |Q| the most well-drilled defense. |R| Clark started throwing more |S| and more of these |U| passes as the game |V| went on: Perfectly weighted |Y| entry passes were squeezed |Z| between the fronting defender |A| and the weak-side helper, |B| a one-handed sling shot |C| was whipped from the |D| right block to the |E| left corner at a |F| full sprint, and cross-court |G| passes from the corner |H| to the break negated |J| entire defensive possessions.
|K| dir="ltr">Clark finished the game |L| with 23 points and |M| nine assists, and the |O| accretive effect that her |P| passing had on the |Q| game was satisfying to |R| watch. Every transition bucket |S| and wide-open three that |U| Clarks playmaking produced seemed |V| to take a little |Y| more fight and poise |Z| out of the Storm |A| while injecting equal amounts |B| of confidence into the |C| Fever. By the fourth |D| quarter the ball was |E| humming around on every |F| Indiana possession, and the |G| Storms formerly ferocious defense |H| had been reduced to |J| five exhausted players giving |K| futile chase to the |L| ball and their opponents. |M| The Fever scored 33 |O| points in the fourth |P| quarter and shot 80 |Q| percent from the field. |R| This was only the |S| second time all season |U| that the Storm allowed |V| an opponent to score |Y| more than 90 points |Z| in a regulation game.
|A| dir="ltr">This was just the |B| latest in a string |C| of impressive wins for |D| the Fever, who are |E| long past the point |F| of needing to be |G| taken seriously. Indiana was |H| 2-9 on June 3, |J| and had just lost |K| to the Liberty by |L| 36 points. Since then, |M| the Fever have the |O| second-best offensive rating in |P| the league (just ahead |Q| of the Aces, just |R| behind the Liberty), and |S| the sixth-best net rating. |U| Indianas 13-15, in the |V| mix for a playoff |Y| spot, and starting to |Z| look like a team |A| that can win games |B| not just by getting |C| hot from deep and |D| scoring in transition, but |E| by meeting high-level opponents |F| on equal footing. The |G| Storm are no pushover, |H| and the Fever found |J| a way to put |K| them in the dirt.
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