No. 9 Indiana’s early-season cohesion is raising concerns, after Saturday’s 100-84 drubbing by expansion side No. 6 Portland punctuated a two-game skid.
Star Fever guard Caitlin Clark scored just six points in the loss. She additionally picked up five fouls, highlighting backcourt frustrations on both sides of the ball.
“I just need to do a better job being straight up, keep the defender in front of me,” Clark said postgame. “But it’s just basketball. Just a game, you know? Learn from it, watch the film and come back next game and be ready to go.”
Back-to-back losses have exposed No. 9 Indiana’s defense. Thursday’s 90-88 loss to No. 5 Golden State laid the foundation for the No. 6 Fire’s triple-digit scoreline.
“We put a lot of pressure on our offense to be perfect when we don’t consistently defend,” Fever head coach Stephanie White said earlier this year. “We can’t wait to play defense in situations where we feel good.”
“Gotta be able to defend all of the time,” echoed Clark. “That’s our biggest area of growth.”
Where to Watch Indiana Fever vs Atlanta Dream WNBA Game
Indiana faces an even tougher test on Thursday, as the Fever takes on No. 2 Atlanta at 7 PM ET, live on Prime.
