The Indiana Fever are still alive. In one of the best games of the season, they blew a huge lead before pulling off an incredible comeback in the final minutes on Sunday afternoon to salvage an 83-80 win over the Atlanta Dream. Their third consecutive win gave them their longest winning streak since 2021 and staved off playoff elimination.
Early on, it looked like the Fever would cruise to a comfortable victory. They led by as much as 16 in the first half, and were doing whatever they wanted on the offensive end. All of that changed after the break. They simply could not make a shot in the third quarter, shooting 3-of-16 from the field and managed just seven points for their lowest scoring quarter of the season. If that wasn't bad enough, star rookie Aliyah Boston left the game with a thumb injury and did not return.
Soon, the Fever were down by double digits themselves, and remained behind by 10 as the clock ticked under three minutes. Then, suddenly, they came alive. Grace Berger hit back-to-back jumpers, Emma Cannon converted an important and-one, and Kristy Wallace took them home.
The Australian knocked down three triples in the final 70 seconds to complete the comeback. She made the first to cut the deficit to two with 1:10 remaining, and another to take the lead with 23 seconds to play. After the Dream went back in front, Wallace came back and calmly drilled the eventual game-winner with eight seconds on the clock.
🚨 SNIPER ALERT 🚨
— WNBA (@WNBA) August 27, 2023
Kristy Wallace was clutch in the @IndianaFever's matchup versus the Dream, finishing with 20 PTS and knocking down a career-high 6 triples in the Fever victory, with three 3-pointers coming in the last 1:10 of the game 👏#MoreThanGame pic.twitter.com/qQqXant4vI
Wallace finished with 20 points and six 3-pointers, both of which were career-highs, and had no other contributions to the game save for two turnovers. But those long-range shots were all the Fever needed.
The Fever are now 11-24 on the season, and sit all alone in 10th place. They remain 4.5 games behind the Los Angeles Sparks for the eighth and final playoff spot, and will eventually be eliminated from the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. But Sunday's comeback is another reminder that this isn't the same old Fever.
They've won as many games as the last two seasons combined, and have a real young core in Boston, NaLyssa Smith and Kelsey Mitchell that's going to be strengthened with another lottery pick from the highly-anticipated 2024 draft class. Finally, there's reason for hope in Indianapolis.
