Fever fail to handle Dream's 'physicality' in loss

INDIANAPOLIS -- Stephanie White knew how to beat the Indiana Fever last season as coach of the Connecticut Sun. She went 5-1 against them, including a 2-0 playoff series sweep.

Now coaching the Fever this WNBA season, White knows what opponents will try to do against Indiana. The Atlanta Dream did it Tuesday in a 91-90 victory at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

"We didn't handle their physicality. That's going to be the M.O. against us all year long," White said. "Teams are going to be physical. That's how I'd play us.

"They're going to push us, they're going to shove us, they're going to hold us. They're going to do whatever they're allowed to get away with, and we have figure out how to use that physicality against them."

The Dream, who also have a new coach this season in Karl Smesko, added two veteran post players in free agency, both of whom played well Tuesday. Brittney Griner had 21 points and 8 rebounds and Brionna Jones 19 and 13. It was a strong bounce-back for Atlanta, which opened the season with an 94-90 loss at Washington on Friday.

The Dream and Fever meet again Thursday, this time in Atlanta. That game was moved to State Farm Arena, which holds nearly 17,000 fans, to accommodate the expected large crowd that Fever star Caitlin Clark usually draws. The Dream play most of their home games at Gateway Center Arena, which holds about 3,500.

Clark, after opening the season with a triple-double in the Fever's 35-point win over Chicago on Saturday, had another strong performance Tuesday: 27 points, 11 assists and 5 rebounds. Teammates Aliyah Boston (24 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists) and Kelsey Mitchell (24 points) also played well. But as a team, the Fever made just 16 of 26 free throws, while Atlanta made 25 of 32.

"Today we failed miserably as a group because there were certain things set in stone for us to be effective from quarter 1 to quarter 4," Mitchell said. "And you guys didn't see what it was supposed to look like until quarter 3.

"So it kinds of just lies in the discipline right now: awareness, knowing personnel. Certain stuff we have to home in on to be successful. Our lulls were too low. They can't be that low. We don't have that margin for error."

Still, despite trailing most of the game, the Fever battled back to outscore Atlanta 25-15 in the fourth quarter. With 21.1 seconds left, Indiana took its first lead -- 90-89 -- since the game's opening basket when Boston made the second of two free throws.