Fever cruise early, hold on to 95-86 victory over severely depleted Mercury

Kelsey Mitchell scored 28 points, Caitlin Clark had 20 and the Indiana Fever were able to fend off a late, fourth-quarter surge by the Phoenix Mercury to win 95-86 on Friday evening.

Clark (20 points, 13 assists), Aliyah Boston (21 points, 13 rebounds) and NaLyssa Smith (14 points, 10 rebounds) all recorded a double-double for the Fever (10-14).

Kahleah Copper led the injury-riddled Mercury (12-11) with 36 points and Sophie Cunningham added 21. The Mercury were down to just six players for the majority of the game as Brittney Griner left with a right hip injury.

Fever crushed Mercury early on with Griner out

Already without Sug Sutton (Right Hamstring), Diana Taurasi and Charisma Osborne (Lower Left Leg), the Mercury’s already shortened roster shrunk even further pregame as news came out that Natasha Cloud was unable to play with a left knee injury.

With two of their five starters inactive, Phoenix struggled in the first quarter while the Fever came out determined with a fast-paced tempo and sharp passing. Off to a blistering start, Mitchell scored 13 points as Indiana led 28-16 in the first quarter.

Despite them racking up 11 turnovers in the first half, that didn’t stop the Fever from continuing to distribute the ball and being able to space the floor to find an open player.

Down to just seven healthy players, the Mercury’s injury crisis grew exponentially bigger as Griner collided with Indiana guard Lexie Hull.

Grimacing in pain, Griner was hunched in the paint, and took a few seconds to limp to the bench before she was eventually ruled out for the remainder of the game.

“My hope is the league [WNBA] in this new Collective Bargaining Agreement will expand the roster sizes,” Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts said about the injury issues. “I’ve heard coaches talk about it and I am new to this league, but it can be better than what it is. It shouldn’t get to this point. We had seven to start, BG goes down and we are down to six with three and a half quarters to go. Bec Allen is on a minutes restriction, so we had five to finish.”

When Griner went down due to a toe fracture and ended up missing the first 10 games of the season, Natasha Mack came in for her and has been reliable whenever Tibbetts calls upon her.

Needing to stay locked in and ready at all times, Mack seized the moment and finished with 10 points and nine rebounds vs. Indiana.

“I got to stay ready no matter what it is, anything can happen,” Mack said. “Whenever you have people that believe in you and have confidence in you, it’s easy to be ready. I just try to do whatever I can for the team.”

Taking advantage of Phoenix’s misfortunes, Clark blossomed with 15 points and nine assists in the first half, just an assist shy of a quick double-double. The Fever shot at a 23-for-39 (59.0%) clip from the field to take a 55-35 lead into halftime.

Indiana was revving on all cylinders as they had the momentum and the control of the game from the beginning. Covering up their 6-for-31 (19.4%) shooting from three, the Fever exploited Phoenix’s lack of size without Griner, heavily outscoring the Mercury 60-28 in the paint and outrebounding them, 42-30.

Copper put team on her back, Mercury fell just short

While the odds were stacked against them before the first tip, Copper displayed her will to score and guide her team back into the game.

At the forefront of a late charge in the fourth quarter, Copper shrunk a 31-point deficit to just four down at one point, 85-81. The Mercury went on a 19-0 run and won the final frame, 28-14.

“There was a lot on Kah’s shoulders tonight,” Tibbetts said. “She got going in the second half. I want her to understand she has that ability to carry any team, and she proved that tonight in the fourth quarter. It is easier when you have other starters around you but when people are out, it is your opportunity to step up and she sure did.”

Adding along to the fact that Allen – who has been battling a lower back injury – was limited, Phoenix had to role with five players for the majority of the game.

“It just speaks to our culture and what we are trying to build here,” Copper said when talking about her team’s resiliency. “We want to fight and continue to compete no matter what the score is and no matter whose playing.”

Carrying on her tear in her first season as a Mercury, this was Copper’s eighth game in which she scored 30-plus points. It was also the second straight game she had done so, dropping 32 in a 100-84 win over the Dallas Wings on Wednesday.

Given that Cloud and Taurasi were unavailable, Copper took on the duties as the primary ball handler and she wanted to contribute in any way she could have done for the betterment of her team.

“It got to a point in the fourth where I got a little bit hot and I just needed to be aggressive,” Copper said. “As a leader of a team, you know when it is time to take over. I think my teammates did a good job of getting me free, being in the right spots. Just trying to continue in gauging when to be aggressive and when to fall back a little bit.”

While it was not the result the team wanted, Tibbetts praised the fight and desire of Copper and the Mercury to keep pushing no matter the circumstances.

“Just extremely proud of our group,” Tibbetts said. “We are going through a little adversity here with all of our injuries, and it could have been easy to hang our heads but we continued to fight. I am so dang proud of our group. We had five players to finish that game and they stayed with it… This group continues to amaze me just with their effort and focus. Really proud of them and the fight that we showed to come back.”

Next Games

Mercury:  Away at Connecticut Sun (17-5) | July 14 | 10 a.m. PT

Fever: Away at Minnesota Lynx (16-6) | July 14 | 1 p.m. PT