Curt Van Hekken
The Indiana Fever have a chance to reach the WNBA finals tonight for the first time since 2015, when they lost to the Minnesota Lynx. It will take just one more win over A'ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces to accomplish that feat.
What do the Fever need to do to win tonight?
Well, let's start with point guard Odyssey Sims. Sims has been hit or miss this season since joining the Fever on August 10. She was added to the roster after the Fever lost three different point guards to injury (Caitlin Clark, Sydney Colson, Aari Mcdonald). Sims averages 10.3 ppg in 12 regular season games with the Fever. And like I said, "hit or miss." She had 6 games in double figures including games with 19 pts, 21 pts, and 22 pts...but she also had 6 games in single digits including 0 points in 13 minutes in her first game with the Fever back on August 12. Truthfully, the Fever do not need her to score. She needs to be a distrubutor. She needs to get the ball to Kelsey Mitchell, Lexie Hull, and Aaliyah Boston. In those 12 regular season games, the Fever were 3-1 in games in which Sims recorded 5 or more assists. I'm not saying she shouldn't score. They just do not need her to score to win. She gets into trouble when she tries to force her shot...when she attacks the rack out of transition. Very rarely does she finish in traffic out of transition. Those missed lay-ups are as good as turnovers. If she can get Mitchell, Hull, and Boston in great scoring positions and let her scoring opportunities simply come to her, the Fever will have a great shot to win tonight.
I just don't understand why Natasha Howard does not get more minutes, especially with Damiris Dantis out while in concussion protocol. In playoff games this season, when Howard has 25 or more minutes, the Fever are 3-0. When she is under 25 minutes, the Fever are just 1-3. Howard can rebound well and she can finish around the rim. So let's make sure she gets at LEAST 25 minutes tonight!
In Lexie Hull's two highest scoring games against the Aces, the Fever are 0-2. She schored 15 points in a 90-68 game 2 loss and 16 points in a 84-72 game 3 loss. But guess what?...I don't care! She needs to score at least 12 tonight for the Fever to win and she needs to hit two 3's.
What does Kelsey Mitchell need to do tonight for the Fever to win and advance to the Finals? Oh, she just needs to be Kelsey Mitchell. She needs to take care of the ball, shoot a high percentage, hit a couple threes and just simply score at least 25 points. No problem.
Aaliyah Boston obviously needs to have a big game tonight as well. She needs to score in the high teens...at least...for the Fever to have a chance tonight. She also needs to snag at least 10 boards. If she can make A'ja Wilson work for every shot she's going to get tonight, that would be huge. Yes, the Fever still won game 4 with Wilson scoring 31 points. I don't think that can happen again. Boston needs to keep Wilson under 24 points.
Tonights game tips from Las Vegas at 9:30 pm EST with the winner advancing to face the Phoenix Mercury in game 1 of the WNBA finals Friday night.
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