Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark carried the Fever far this season, but the ride came to an end on Thursday.
The Fever went as far as Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark took them this season. Considering they had arguably the greatest season any backcourt has had in league history, a lot of times, that was pretty far.
But with a chance to exorcise some demons on Thursday, the pair ran out of gas.
For the second straight season, Indiana’s season ended in a do-or-die game in Las Vegas as the Aces came away with a 94-83 win. It was a night where Mitchell and Clark combined for 41 points, but shot just 13-41 from the field and 6-23 from three.
“I thought our offense got a little more stagnant in the second half,” Clark said. “I felt like we took a lot more late shot clock contested shots where that was our only choice at that point of trying to get something up. You got to give credit to the Aces. I thought they played well. I thought they were ready to go and that’s what championship teams do. They played great.
“Like I said, they made it difficult, but we’ve made a lot of those shots throughout the year too.”
The pair came out of the gates clicking in the first quarter, helping Indiana to an early eight-point lead on the road. Through the opening 8:10 of the game, Clark had 11 points and Mitchell seven as Indiana led by four.
But from there, the pair made just six more shots over the final 32 minutes. Clark shot 2-12 from the field, missed all seven of her threes and turned the ball over five times. Mitchell scored eight points in the fourth quarter as the Fever closed to within two points, but still shot only 4-18 from the field in that aforementioned stretch.
“Some of it is we missed some shots,” head coach Stephanie White said of the offensive struggles. “We missed some shots that we typically make. There was a level of physicality that we couldn’t get to the rim. They turned it up a little bit…It’s a game in the margins.”
With their backcourt struggling, Indiana turned to both a familiar and an unexpected face to stay in the game. Aliyah Boston finished her strong offensive series with 19 points and 10 rebounds despite being notably hampered.
Myisha Hines-Allen provided a spark off the bench with 12 points and 12 rebounds, her second impactful outing in a row. Her biggest stretch came in the second quarter when the Fever tied the game and forced a timeout after a string of layups.
But no other Fever player had more than five points. And on a night when A’ja Wilson again was in MVP form, Indiana was scratching and clawing just to stay within arms reach of the Aces for most of the night.
The solutions, though, never came offensively. Indiana shot just 6-20 from the field in the fourth, including 3-11 from three. After the Big 3 and Hines-Allen, no other Fever player had more than five points.
The end result was hoping one of Clark and Mitchell could catch fire to save the season down the stretch, but neither could find their groove as the season ticked away.
“I mean, shooters shoot,” White said when asked if she considered pulling back the reins on her backcourt. “I think the only thing that we really talk about as the coaching staff is how we get high-quality shots. I mean, look, they’re both tough shot makers. They really are tough shot makers.
“How do we get them high-quality shots? How do we get them some easier looks when it starts to go dry a little bit? But there’s never a thought, like every time they shoot the ball, I think it’s going in, so there’s never a thought of anything other than the next one’s going in…They made it tough on us and that’s what championship teams do.”
It leaves the Fever flying back across the country after a season-ending win in the desert for the second straight season. As with most playoff exits, it leaves a bittersweet taste in their mouths — as well as likely a little blood for Clark, too, after taking a shot to the mouth in the fourth quarter — after such a special regular season.
“Just proud of this group,” Clark said. “We’ve weathered a lot. There’s always so much outside noise and a microscope on how we perform every day. A lot of really good moments. A lot of tough moments where we probably felt like we gave opportunities away. It’s probably what hurts a little bit.
“There was a lot of really good wins and not many nights where me and Kels are going to combine to shoot as poor as we did tonight. That’s sometimes a tough pill to swallow. But like I said, still a lot of things to be proud of.”