Kelsey Mitchell Leads Gritty Fever Past Liberty: Takeaways
The Indiana Fever had a tough turnaround against the New York Liberty. The Fever were coming off a tough win the night before over the Seattle Storm and playing their third game in four nights. Meanwhile, New York was fresh, having not played in almost a week.
That difference in rest seemed to rear its head early as the Liberty got out to an early lead, however, as the contest went on the Fever took control—in large part due to the brilliance of Kelsey Mitchell.
Mitchell continued her stretch of torrid scoring, dropping 33 points on a ridiculously efficient 10-14 shooting from the floor. The Liberty had no answer for her quickness or her ability to create space for herself behind the three-point line off the bounce. Mitchell has now scored 20 or more in 10 consecutive contests.
Mitchell's backcourt mate, Caitlin Clark, didn't have an encore of her career-best performance the night before, but Clark still had a strong showing. The Fever point guard was aggressive on her drives, forcing the issue in getting into the lane, ultimately converting several and one opportunities and finishing with 17 points and 7 assists.
Fever Bench Comes Up Big
The star backcourt shouldered the load offensively, but the Fever got contributions up and down the lineup, including from the bench.
Tyasha Harris kept up her steady play at backup point guard, as she has proven to be reliable night-in and night-out. Harris had 11 points and 3 assists in a reserve role.
Sophie Cunningham lit it up once again as well, as the Fever sharpshooter has been lethal from beyond the arc all season. Cunningham connected on 3-of-4 from deep en route to 11 points of her own.
Indiana Defense Is the Difference
The Fever's offensive firepower has never really been in question and the 108 points they scored was further testament to that fact.
But the defensive end has been less reliable for Indiana, which made the victory all the more impressive. The Fever held the Liberty to just 12 points in the third quarter when they pulled away.
Overall, New York managed 88 points, but the game was out of reach for much of the fourth quarter because of the defense the Fever played during the third.
It was the kind of win that shows the Fever are rounding into the contender form that was expected of them prior to the year. They improved to 16-10 and only have the Connecticut Sun left on the schedule before heading into All-Star weekend, where Clark, Mitchell, and Aliyah Boston will take the court as deserving starters in Chicago.
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Robin Lundberg is a media veteran and hoops head who has spent the bulk of his career with iconic brands like Sports Illustrated and ESPN. His insights have also been featured on platforms such as Fox and CNN and he can currently be heard hosting shows for Sirius XM and on his popular YouTube channel. And now he brings his basketball expertise to Women's Fastbreak On SI and Indiana Fever On SI!
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