Caitlin Clark remains silent, but Aliyah Boston wears Fever to defeat Dream

Caitlin Clark scored seven points on 3-of-11 shooting.
Aliyah Boston (27 points) and Kelsey Mitchell (24 points) led the Fever to victory.

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana narrowly avoided a nightmare loss to Atlanta, pulling out a 91-84 victory in the final seconds at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Thursday night.

A 15-point lead turned into Fever late in the fourth quarter, but Aliyah Boston’s 27 points and 13 rebounds propelled Indiana to its fourth victory of the season.

Indiana is now 4-10, while Atlanta is 5-6.

“She was undeniable.”How Aliyah Boston regained her confidence, dominated against Dream

More:After another tough night of filming, Caitlin Clark returns to the empty arena for some more training.

Here are three observations:

Strong first half gives Fever a cushion

After Monday night’s loss to Connecticut, Fever coach Christie Sides emphasized effort, defense and spacing. The Fever, playing against the best team in the WNBA, didn’t have the spacing to get through the Sun’s powerful defense.

Thursday against the Dream, the Fever offense clicked in the first half. Spacing has been something Fever have worked on all season, and they’ve cracked the code by running their attack through the post.

Indiana’s offense was its most connected all season, and it resulted in 33 points in the first 10 minutes – the Fever’s highest-scoring quarter of the season. The Fever had eight assists on 13 made baskets in the first half, varying their score – Katie Lou Samuelson scored back-to-back 3-pointers, while Boston scored the final seven points for the Fever in that quarter.

Indiana’s lead expanded to 15 points, 59-44, by halftime – and Indiana needed every inch of that lead to secure the victory.

Fever barely saves the loss of a nightmare

Atlanta outscored Indiana 18-14 in the third quarter, then went on a 9-0 run to start the fourth and get within two points. Two free throws by Kelsey Mitchell in the fifth minute of the fourth finally gave Indiana its first points of the quarter, and Boston gave the Fever a three-point advantage with an easy layup.

But the Dream had figured out how to exploit Indiana’s defense: cause fouls. Indiana didn’t seem to know how to defend without fouling in the fourth quarter, giving Atlanta high-percentage, uncontested shots.

The Fever committed four shooting fouls in the first seven minutes of the fourth, and Caitlin Clark’s foul on Dream guard Haley Jones gave her two shots, which turned into a lead for the Dream – their first since the first quarter.

Boston was instrumental in keeping the Fever in the game. She single-handedly traded shots with the Dream, scoring eight straight points for Indiana late in the fourth.

A Mitchell layup, another Boston shot and two Mitchell free throws ultimately sealed the seven-point victory, avoiding a nightmare defeat.

Mitchell finished with 24 points.

“That’s still one of my goals.”Olympic future on Aliyah Boston’s mind after missing 2024 team

Aliyah Boston finishes with a new season record

Early foul trouble wasn’t going to stop Aliyah Boston. After battling through multiple defenders for the Fever’s first basket of the game, the reigning Rookie of the Year picked up her second foul just four minutes into the first quarter.

She went to the bench with two fouls and two points, sitting for four minutes.

Then, after returning with two minutes left in the first quarter, she got to work. Boston scored seven straight points for the Fever, outplaying the Dream defenders for an and-1 late in the quarter.

Between her broadcast commitments, Boston said she put on a lot of muscle in the offseason to be able to compete with centers like the Dream’s Tina Charles, who is a 6-4 WNBA veteran with more than 12 years of experience in the league.

That extra muscle paid off on Thursday; she tied her season high of 17 points at halftime, shooting 7 of 12 from the field, while Charles had only two points.

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