INDIANAPOLIS – A lot has changed since the Indiana Fever last played the Atlanta Dream.
Because of league scheduling quirks, Indiana and Atlanta played the entirety of their four-game season series within the first 20 games of the WNBA season. The last time the two played each other was in Gainbridge Fieldhouse on July 11.
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Caitlin Clark played in that game, scoring 12 points with nine assists. Aari McDonald and Sydney Colson acted as her backup point guards. Sophie Cunningham had 16 points and 10 rebounds as a vital part of the rotation. Chloe Bibby hadn’t even joined the team yet.
Indiana is a much different team now than it was two months ago. In some ways, that can be an advantage.
“I think we’ve got different personnel so they can play us a little bit differently,” Fever coach Stephanie White said Thursday. “You know, we’ve scaled back. So we’re running a lot of the similar things that we were running early when we played them, because it was stuff we had just started teaching. But at the same time, you know, different players, different attack style.”
Indiana, the No. 6 seed, will head to the Gateway Center to play No. 3 Atlanta to open the playoffs 3 p.m., Sunday (ABC). It’s a best-of-three series, with Game 2 Tuesday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and an if-necessary Game 3 returning to Atlanta.
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Since the two teams played last, Indiana has had five season-ending injuries. First was Clark, whose right groin injury on July 15 — compounded with a left bone bruise on Aug. 7 — ended her season early. Then both McDonald and Colson went down on Aug. 7, and Cunningham on Aug. 17. Bibby’s knee injury on Aug. 22 knocked her out for the year, too.
Odyssey Sims, now the Fever’s starting point guard, joined the team on Aug. 10. Shey Peddy, the Fever’s backup point guard, signed on Aug. 18. Aerial Powers, a crucial rotation piece at wing behind Lexie Hull, signed on Aug. 23.
A lot of the same focal points are there: Kelsey Mitchell, who averaged 20.2 points in the regular season, Aliyah Boston, who averaged 15.0 points and 8.2 rebounds, and Natasha Howard started every game this season. Hull has played in every game this season as well, through a knock on the head and bloody lips.
But a lot has changed, too.
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“I think the big part about us is because we are different, it gives us much more of an edge, in my opinion,” Mitchell said. “We’ve had like six different teams, and so they have a lot of scouting to do in Atlanta, but for us it’s about keeping the main thing the main thing, and the thing for us is our energy, our effort, and focusing on getting the reps for who we’re gonna play.”
Indiana and Atlanta split the season 2-2, giving the Fever some optimism in having the Dream as the first-round opponent.
The Fever, though, are shorter than when the two teams last played. Clark, who is 6-0, had her spot filled by Sims, who is 5-8. Peddy is 5-10. Powers, who replaced Cunningham’s 6-1 frame, is 6-0.
It’s not too much of a difference, but every inch counts when going up against Atlanta’s post tandem of Brittney Griner (6-9) and Brionna Jones (6-3). The Fever have Boston (6-4) and Howard (6-2) in the post to combat the pair, but Griner and Jones overpower Indiana’s guard room even more than before.
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That’s just something Indiana will need to prepare for.
“Our size at most all positions has been a challenge for us,” White said. ”So we’re gonna have to combat that with our discipline, No. 1, and with our reads on the offensive end of the floor.”
WNBA playoffs: Indiana Fever vs Atlanta Dream schedule
Game 1: 3 p.m., Sunday, in Atlanta (ABC)
Game 2: 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, in Indianapolis (ESPN)
Game 3: TBD, Thursday, in Atlanta (ESPN2)*
* if necessary
Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at capeterson@gannett.com or follow her on X at @chloepeterson67. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: How Fever’s roster shuffling can be advantage in WNBA playoffs first round
