The Indiana Fever took massive strides, but more work is needed

The zoomed-out view of the result is totally justified. The series was a clash of styles, and Connecticut’s defensive abilities made them perhaps the hardest matchup in the league for the Fever. Taking down the Sun was going to be difficult just through that lens, and that doesn’t even account for the major difference in playoff experience between the two teams.

The experience was lacking for Indiana because the franchise had not made the playoffs since 2016. They’ve never been in the field without Tamika Catchings on the roster. This year, they ended that eight-year drought and continued playing beyond the regular season without Catchings for the first time. That is all worth celebrating and will primarily be how this season gets remembered.

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Their rebuild happened slow yet fast. That is a fitting description for this quick two-game series, too. It was slow when the Sun wanted it to be and fast when the Fever had their way. In the end, Connecticut was able to enforce its style more often.

That’s what makes the temperature check required. In the future, many will look back at this season as a turning point for the Indiana Fever. In the moment, few within the organization can feel that. They were flat-out embarrassed in Game 1 of the series and came up frustratingly short in Game 2. Sure, their progress is fantastic, but they didn’t have enough in the playoffs, and the feeling of defeat is what the team faces right now.

“You never want to lose,” Fever center Aliyah Boston said after her team was eliminated. “And especially losing right now with a chance to go home and get one more game, it truly sucks.”

Finally breaking through and finishing with a top-eight record is proof that the Fever are on the right track, something many believed already. To continue on that path, this series needs to be a lesson for the young group. Connecticut showed the Fever what is needed to be a contender going forward — how Indiana responds will be telling.

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The Sun dominated with defense, and the top-five postseason seeds were the top-five defensive teams in the association this year. Four of those teams won a round — the maximum possible number. Indiana finished the regular season 11th in defensive rating, a figure far too low to compete with the best teams.

Connecticut certainly won Game 1 of the series with defense. They held the Fever to just 69 points, an impossible task against Indiana’s high-scoring attack. Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell saw a sea of opponents every time they turned. There was no space. Indiana looked disjointed.

In the second game of the series, the Fever found cracks in that defense yet still walked out of Mohegan Sun Arena with a loss. The Fever defense was the story this time, but not in a good way. Connecticut put 87 points on the scoreboard. Indiana was 3-18 in the regular season when they gave up at least 87 points in a game, yet it happened twice in the playoffs. Their defense wasn’t good enough. The Sun’s was.

“We struggled to get stops at times,” rookie star Caitlin Clark said after Game 1. “We just have to do a better job; they had 50 points in the paint,” head coach Christie Sides added moments later.

At times, Indiana looked gassed. They were exhausted — their up-tempo style is demanding, and it becomes even more challenging on a more physical playoff stage. Yet head coach Christie Sides didn’t opt to use her depth much. In Game 1, the Fever only had one bench player reach 14 minutes. The Sun had three. In Game 2, Indiana’s reserves played 22 minutes combined. Every Connecticut backup that played that night had more playing time individually.

Depth was a major factor in this series, and the Sun had more of it. They beat the Indiana Fever with a top-seven that was connected on both ends and stuck to their playstyle, getting away with many different lineup combos even after Tyasha Harris got hurt early in Game 1.

“When you get to the playoffs and you’re in an elimination game, you’ve got to find something to try differently,” Sides said after the second game. The head coach started Temi Fagbenle instead of NaLyssa Smith for that outing.

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The Fever proved during the regular season that they have an elite offense. They had enough firepower to beat anyone — they took down Connecticut on one of their best three-point shooting nights of the season in late August. Yet in the playoffs, when their offense went from elite to just pretty good, they needed something else to get them a few wins. They didn’t have something else to rely on, though, and it cost them.

Their depth wasn’t enough, and it was hard for Sides to find a non-starters lineup that let the Fever play their style and still match up with the Sun. Three-guard units didn’t score enough. Faster units were effective but tiring, and they couldn’t get enough stops. Adding more spacing took away from that speed. It was a difficult tradeoff.

Without being able to rely on the less glamorous end of the floor, it was hard for Indiana to go on any sort of run. They had excellent stretches at the bookends of Game 2, but that was it. In large part, most of the series featured either the two squads trading baskets or Connecticut on a run.

So, after a monumental season full of important high points and the end of the lengthy playoff drought, the Fever walked away from the playoffs disappointed. They couldn’t get the one win they needed. But their path forward now is about addressing what they saw in this series.

Lin Dunn is heading into her first offseason as GM in which she won’t have the first overall draft pick. What will her winter look like? Indiana clearly needs more depth, especially reserve wings and forwards who can play an up-tempo style and put pressure on a defense. Will one even be available? If not, how will the Fever find the depth and skills they need?

Sides, Dunn, and the roster will have to look at improving on defense in any way they can. Connecticut was the top defense in the league, and they showed why that mattered. Without being able to get stops, the Fever stood little chance in the postseason.

The momentum around the Indiana Fever franchise is immense. Make no mistake about it. But they left the 2024 season with a sour taste in their mouths, and it’s now time for the Fever to address the weaknesses that were exposed in front of huge audiences.

“Obviously, people were pretty disappointed in the outcome. I think it gave us a taste of where we wanted to be,” Clark said. “But… you kind of have to let this kind of burn inside of you and let it bother you in a way that’s going to drive you through the offseason.”