‘Shot ourselves in the foot.’ How Indiana Fever saw shot at first win slip away vs. Seattle

SEATTLE — With 10.3 seconds left on the clock, it was crunch time for Fever rookie Caitlin Clark.

The Fever were down one point, 84-83, and had an inbound on the baseline. Indiana guard Kristy Wallace held the ball in her hands, looking to pass it to Clark — that was the plan, anyway. Clark was supposed to get the ball and either go for a 3-pointer or slip into the paint for an easy bucket.

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But there was a disconnect between Wallace and Clark, and that inbound pass didn’t make the mark. Clark had to scramble.

“I'm not sure if the pass was behind me or if I just took my eyes off it, but I think I was open,” Clark said, “It was a good play.”

That millisecond delay allowed Seattle to swarm Clark, who got the ball out to Aliyah Boston. She was also immediately swarmed, and the Storm forced a jump ball and won possession. Then, Indiana had to foul, and it ended up being an 85-83 loss.

“We definitely gave ourselves a chance, but at the same time, there's some little things that we shot ourselves in the foot,” Clark said.

This was the second straight game Indiana had a taste of winning — it lost to Connecticut, 88-84, on Monday night. Both games were winnable, but it came down to small miscues that ultimately doomed their chances.

“These two definitely hurt the most,” Clark said. “We're what, six points away from being 2-3 instead of 0-5… it's just that close, and there's so many instances of going back and watching the film with little things that you can easily fix and clean up that would go a really long way. Then possibly it wouldn't even come down to one possession. So I think you have to find confidence in that especially, you know, at this point being 0-5.”

In the first few games, Indiana’s Achilles' heel was turnovers. They’ve started to improve on that, committing 11 total turnovers against Seattle on Monday.

Although they improved in the turnover margin, offensive rebounding has become an issue. Seattle had 17 offensive rebounds against Indiana, the Fever’s worst mark so far this season.

“For me, it’s the offensive rebounds,” coach Christie Sides said. “They had 17 offensive rebounds on us for 21 points, and that is the game. That is the game. We need all five boxing out every time a shot goes up.”

Sides has stressed on making stops in clutch moments, especially near the end of the game. When the Fever were leading in the fourth quarter, they failed to box out and rebound, leading to multiple second-chance (or even third-chance) opportunities.

Clark finished with a team-high 21 points on 6-of-16 shooting with seven rebounds and seven assists. Kelsey Mitchell had 17 points and Smith added 16 points and 11 rebounds.

There are other little things that affect the Fever’s chances at winning, too.

“Ticky-tack fouls, knowing our defensive scheme, trapping when we’re supposed to, pulling the lever on the weak side, 50-50 balls, all of those controllables, and that’s the good part,” forward NaLyssa Smith said. “Hopefully next game we go into LA with the stuff we can control.”

The Fever have two more games on their West Coast road trip: they play the 1-2 Los Angeles Sparks (1-2) on Friday and the back-to-back WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces (2-1) on Saturday.

It’s a grueling schedule for a young team — especially when Las Vegas will be coming into Saturday’s game on four days of rest. But the Fever keep fighting.

“We're trying to find wins, yes in the scoreboard, but we've got to find little wins that are going to get us to win it and that is going to be fun for us. And we're right there,” Sides said. “... We’re just trying to figure it out. And they're doing a great job, and they've stayed positive. I'm proud of them for that, and we're gonna get there. Our fight is there.”

Follow IndyStar Fever Insider Chloe Peterson on X at @chloepeterson67.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Fever, Caitlin Clark see shot at first win slip away in Seattle