Fever Close out Regular Season at Mystics on Thursday Night (original) (raw)

Indiana Fever

The Indiana Fever (20-19) close out the 2024 regular season at Capital One Arena against the Washington Mystics on Thursday night with a WNBA Playoff berth secured for the first time since 2016. Indiana currently leads Washington in the regular season series, 2-1, with the last matchup resulting in an 89-84 Washington victory on July 10 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Thursday's matchup will be Indiana's first away game since September 1 after hosting a six-game homestand at the beginning of September. Indiana's latest 110-109 victory against the Dallas Wings on Sunday locked in its position as the No. 6 seed in the 2024 WNBA playoffs. The No. 8 seed is still up for contention entering the last day of the regular season between the Mystics, the Chicago Sky and the Atlanta Dream.

On Tuesday, Washington fell to the top-seeded New York Liberty, 87-71, putting the Mystics a step behind the Atlanta Dream for the final playoff spot. The Dream beat the Sky, 86-70, on Tuesday and secured one more win entering Thursday. The Mystics and Sky are tied at 13-26, sharing ninth place in the standings, but Washington holds the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Sky while the Mystics and Dream split the season series. For Washington to have a chance at clinching the eighth spot, the Mystics must win against Indiana on Thursday and all three aforementioned teams need to end up with the same record.

Back on July 10 in the most recent matchup, Indiana outscored Washington in paint points, 42-38, fast break points, 26-9 and shot 53.4 percent from the field, but the Mystics bench outscored Indiana, 35-21. In all three matchups with the Mystics, Fever guards Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark and Fever forward NaLyssa Smith have all scored in double figures. During Indiana's first win against Washington on June 7, Clark recorded 30 points and seven made 3-points field goals, which marked the most made 3-point field goals by a rookie in franchise history. Also during that game, the Fever set a franchise record for the most made 3-point field goals (16) in a game. In the second victory against Washington on June 19, Fever center Aliyah Boston and Mitchell both tallied 22 points. Indiana outscored Washington in paint points, 38-26, and outrebounded the Mystics 37-31.

In all three matchups with Indiana, Mystics center Stefanie Dolson and guard Ariel Atkins have both scored in double figures. In the first matchup, five Mystics players scored at least 10 points as Dolson led with 19 points, six rebounds and three assists. During the second matchup with Indiana, Atkins led with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-17 field goal shooting. Washington has demonstrated the strength of its bench, outscoring Indiana in bench points by at least three in all three matchups. At the start of the Olympic break, Washington compiled a 6-19 record and sat at the very bottom of league standings. Now fighting for the final playoff spot, Washington ranks third in the league for assists, averaging 21.5 assists per game, second in three-point shooting at 36.6 percent.

Indiana is ranked third in the league for points per game, averaging 84.8 points per game as Mitchell and Clark are ranked seventh and eighth respectively, both averaging more than 19.5 points per game. The Fever rank fourth in the league for rebounds per game, averaging 35.1 rebounds per game, with Boston sixth in the league for rebounds per game with 9.0 rebounds per game and Smith ranked 14th, averaging 7.2 rebounds per game.

Indiana Fever at Washington Mystics

Thursday, Sept. 19

Capital One Arena | 7:00 p.m. ET

Broadcast Information

WTHR Channel 13/Prime Video

Probable Starters

Indiana Fever (20-19)

Guard - Kelsey Mitchell (19.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.8 apg)

Guard - Caitlin Clark (19.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 8.4 apg)

Guard - Lexie Hull (5.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.1 apg)

Center - Aliyah Boston (14.1 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 3.2 apg)

Forward - NaLyssa Smith (10.4 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.1 apg)

Washington Mystics (13-26)

Guard - Ariel Atkins (14.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.1 apg)

Guard - Julie Vanloo (7.5 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 4.4 apg)

Center - Stefanie Dolson (9.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.7 apg)

Forward - Emily Engstler (5.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.4 apg)

Forward - Brittney Sykes (12.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.1 apg)

Game Status Report

Indiana: No injuries.

Washington: Shakira Austin - OUT (Left Ankle), Aaliyah Edwards - OUT (Right Ankle)

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