Sophie Cunningham Reveals Indiana Fever Playoff Opponent Preference
The Indiana Fever are one of five teams whose 2025 WNBA regular season has come to a close. And their 24-20 record has earned them a position in the postseason, despite all the adversity and injuries they have had to endure over the past few months.
However, the Fever still don't know which seed they're going to be or who they're going to play in the first round. If the Golden State Valkyries defeat the Minnesota Lynx on September 11, then they will take the No. 6 seed, and the Fever will fall to No. 7. If Minnesota wins, then Indiana will keep their current No. 6 spot and face the No. 3 seed.
In terms of Indiana's opponent, it's either going to be the Atlanta Dream or the Las Vegas Aces. If the Aces win their final game against the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday, then they'll be the No. 2 seed. If not, then it will be the Dream.
It's hard to imagine that anybody wants to face the Aces right now, given that they've won 15 straight games. Then again, the Dream have won six straight and also seem to be peaking at the perfect time.
Sophie Cunningham Explains Fever's Best First Round Matchup in WNBA Playoffs
Indiana Fever star guard Sophie Cunningham is missing the rest of the WNBA season because of a torn MCL. However, she's still locked into the playoff picture. And she explained which team she believes would be perfect for the Fever to face in the first round in a September 9 episode of the Show Me Something podcast.
"Playoffs season is just like a whole different season. I know athletes say that, but it truly is," Cunningham said. "You can have the best record in the regular season and lose in the first round, if that team doesn't have experience. Experience is what wins playoffs and championships... I don't know what it is, but it's like, if you know how to handle the momentum swings, you know how to handle the runs. It's hard to explain, but when you're in it, it's freakin real."
She later added, "Our first round... I would like to play Atlanta. I think we match up best with them. We have Kelsey Mitchell, we have [Aliyah Boston]. Again, it's playoff experience. And so, Atlanta maybe has the least amount of playoff experience, if I'm not mistaken. And I think our team does too. So I think that would be our best matchup."
.@sophaller gives her thoughts on the Fever’s outlook ahead of the playoffs pic.twitter.com/h0RFgBVdtA
— Show Me Something (@ShowMe_Pod) September 10, 2025
For what it's worth, Fever coach Stephanie White has gone on record saying that she doesn't think her team matches up well with Atlanta at all, and that was when Indiana was fully healthy.
But fans can still appreciate Cunningham's confidence.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the Indiana Fever and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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