UNCASVILLE, Conn. — With right around seven minutes to play in Wednesday’s 87-81 Game 2 playoff loss, Indiana Fever forward Temi Fagbenle attempted to back down Connecticut Sun’s Alyssa Thomas. But the Sun veteran poked the ball loose and by the time Fagbenle recovered it, she was unaware of an impending shot-clock violation. Thomas waved her index finger: nope.
At the time, the Fever trailed by nine points in the contest with do-or-die implications, and the Sun were expanding the lead. Fagbenle dished back-to-back assists to teammate Damiris Dantas and another Kelsey Mitchell basket trimmed the deficit to five points, so the Fever were in contention. But to some surprise, Dantas got subbed out with six minutes left, not Fagbenle.
“A tough one, especially because we climbed all the way back in and definitely had our opportunities late,” Clark said. “Few different miscues… that’s sometimes the worst part of it. You feel like you’re really playing your best basketball and then it has to end.”
Clark led all scorers with 25 points, an improvement from Game 1.
Fagbenle did have the assists, but Dantas was shooting better, and frankly could shoot better beyond the arc in general. Three-pointers would come in handy for the Fever. Fagbenle was also 0-for-3 on the night at the time of the sub. But about two minutes after Thomas shut her down, and from an identical spot on the floor, Fagbenle made only her third triple this season.
It was surely her biggest shot this year for the usual run-and-score transition player.
Fever came close, but not close enough
With another Clark three-pointer to follow, the Fever actually led 71-70 at the four-minute mark. Sun guard Marina Mabrey, who scorched for 27 points in the Game 1 victory, nailed another beyond the arc to regain the Sun’s lead. Yet there was Fagbenle to tie it up. The Fever offense looked the best it had all night, and with Aliyah Boston layups, led 77-75 with 2:05 to go.
“Win the game,” Boston said afterward, when coach Christie Sides asked for the reminder of the halftime message.
“These guys were never in a position that we couldn’t win this game,” Sides said. “It was like an engine. We kept getting better as the game went on. We kept putting them in bad situations where they had to make decisions as it relates to when Caitlin was pushing… I don’t even think we made an adjustment at halftime. We watched a couple situations that we knew we could be better at.”
But Mabrey’s three-point dagger, kept sharpened from Sunday afternoon, emerged with only 46 seconds to seal the Connecticut win, sweeping the Fever 2-0 in the first round of the playoffs. It sent them home for good, without the chance to host the winner-take-all Game 3 in Indianapolis Friday. After the buzzer, Fever players briefly huddled at midcourt and streamed into the tunnel.
“I just kept telling them, nothing defines us but our heart and our effort,” Sides said.
Fever vs. Sun chippy in first half, similar to end of regular season
Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images
Twenty-seven seconds in, Clark made her first three-point try of the night, which had to be relieving for the rookie, following her 2-for-13 afternoon in Game 1. Three minutes in, Clark launched her second try, from 33 feet out, but it wasn’t good. The Fever guard hit the deck when Sun forward DeWanna Bonner appeared to encroach Clark’s landing space. No foul was called.
Clark visibly wanted the foul, and when Bonner began talking to her, she pushed off. In another instance, before the Sun were set to shoot at the line, Clark reported a fan sitting courtside to the refs. They were escorted out of the seats and later returned. Once more, Bonner talked to Clark and shrugged her arms. Clark put her hand out, as to wave it off and then walked away.
There’s more. In the second quarter, Clark chased Mabrey out of bounds and possibly shoved her or pushed, or to some capacity at least, brought Connecticut’s midseason trade get to the floor. Mabrey got up fast, and was held in place by teammates. But Mabrey got the last laugh, not only with the triple, but by stripping the ball from Clark to result in an empty possession late.
The Fever have been in late-game scenarios before with the Sun. In the second meeting back in May in Indianapolis, which the Fever lost 88-84, they had the four-point lead midway through the fourth, albeit they weren’t at the level they are now. The growth is, the Fever were able to make their last trip to the Sun competitive. Before Wednesday, they’d only done so at home.
But months later, they weren’t able to sustain the late lead.
“Losing right now with the chance to go home and get one more game, it truly sucks,” Boston said.
Fever basketball, at least the games, will hit pause until next Spring.
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