ATLANTA -- DJ Khaled's "All I Do Is Win" was blaring, and Atlanta Dream fans were still celebrating as Indiana Fever stars Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark walked off the floor after suffering an 80-68 loss in Game 1 of their opening round series of the 2025 WNBA playoffs.
Clark, not in uniform after being ruled out for the season Sept. 4, patted Mitchell on the back after her 27-point performance, a playoff career high. The two covered their mouths to evade lip-readers as they chatted before Clark wrapped her arm around Mitchell and walked into the tunnel.
This wasn't how this season was supposed to go for the Fever: Clark, fresh off a dazzling Rookie of the Year campaign, alongside four others relegated to the bench with season-ending injuries, and Indiana on the brink of a first-round playoff exit.
But the Fever are accustomed to playing with their season on the line. This is the latest challenge they have faced in a topsy-turvy season.
They had to fight until the last day of the season to reach the playoffs, warding off the Los Angeles Sparks and Washington Mystics to clinch a second consecutive postseason bid. Most of Indiana's games during August and September, players and coaches said, were played with playoff-level urgency. Through it all, they insisted that they didn't want to just make the playoffs, but -- as coach Stephanie White implored her players in the locker room after they secured the playoff spot -- "scare the hell out of this league."
"This is a hungry group... you can see that they are hungry for success, that they want to continue to grow and continue to get better," White said Sept. 5. "Some other teams that might not be as strong culturally or be as resilient could have folded multiple times. And this group hasn't."
The Fever hope that resolve will propel them to a winner-take-all Game 3 in Atlanta, where they could secure their first playoff series win since 2015.
Indiana has one advantage for Tuesday's Game 2 (7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN): Thanks to the WNBA's new 1-1-1 first-round format, the Fever will play in front of their home crowd.
Even with fan favorite Clark sidelined for much of the year, Indiana averaged 16,560 fans per game, second only to the upstart Golden State Valkyries.
"I remember a year ago [coaching] in Connecticut, it was like, 'Thank God we didn't have to go back to Indiana,'" White said Saturday. "I'm thankful for our fans that they're going to have this opportunity."
Still, the franchise will host its first playoff game since 2016 under much different circumstances than it anticipated earlier this year.
Indiana had established itself as an early championship contender after a productive offseason when it paired its promising young core with upgraded veteran talent. But the Fever had to reinvent themselves multiple times throughout the summer, with their current roster a far cry from the one they constructed in January and February. First, DeWanna Bonner departed after nine games, then came the slew of injuries. Clark was limited to 13 games -- her last appearance was before the All-Star break in July -- and four other players were ruled out in the second half of the season.
The Fever's ceiling inevitably lowered with Clark out and their backcourt became so depleted. But the injuries were never the emphasis: Indiana still finished the regular season 24-20 -- a franchise record in wins -- and earned the No. 6 seed in the playoffs.
"I think yes, from the outside, the pressure [to win] is not what it once was," White said Sunday, "but I think internally, we take pride in everything that we do, and it's not pressure, but it's opportunity."
An opportunity to keep playing, certainly. And also an opportunity for the Fever's young core to get more playoff experience, White said.
Last year, Indiana's starters combined for zero games of postseason experience, and its reserves had just 19. This year is different, with Mitchell, Aliyah Boston and Lexie Hull experiencing that short-lived 2024 run.
The team also focused on bringing in championship-caliber veterans in the offseason, including Natasha Howard. Even its hardship players who eventually signed rest-of-season contracts -- Odyssey Sims, Aerial Powers and Shey Peddy -- have appeared in the playoffs multiple times.
The Fever will need to channel that experience into an assertive response for Game 2, when they'll aim to set the tone first, like Atlanta did to take control of Game 1.
Mitchell pointed to ways the Fever "shot [themselves] in the foot" in Sunday's loss. White lamented how the game was lost on the margins, an array of smaller mistakes snowballing into a double-figure defeat. The offense went cold at times, with only Mitchell (27 points) and Sims (10) finishing in double figures, and the team converting just 2 of 15 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc. The Fever couldn't keep up their initial disruptive defense, and allowed the deficit to get out of reach in the fourth quarter. Atlanta won the battle in the paint and second-chance opportunities.
But Indiana has found ways to respond to adversity, choosing to focus on controlling the controllables. Mitchell frequently reminds the team in huddles, "We're all we got, we're all we need." That mantra will remain central Tuesday, when Indiana will also be short-handed in the frontcourt with Damiris Dantas missing a second straight game because of a concussion -- the sixth Fever player sidelined because of an injury.
Game 2 will be the team's biggest opportunity to see whether its fortitude is enough to keep its season alive.
"We're in every single game," Hull said. "We've seen in moments when we're not doing well or games that we've lost, it's really things that we can control. So, [it's about] making sure that we're locked in on all of those things and tidying up those little things because if we can put together 40 minutes, we feel like we can beat anybody in the league."
