Aug 1, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White during the game between the Dallas Wings and the Indiana Fever at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

ESPN Offers Unanimous Verdict on Indiana Fever Playoff Chances

Originally posted on Indiana Fever on SI | By Grant Young | Last updated Sep 13, 2025 11:48 AM ET

When speaking with the media on September 13, Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White conveyed just how tall a task her team has in facing the Atlanta Dream in the first round of the 2025 WNBA playoffs.

"Their size," White said when asked about the Fever's biggest challenge against the Dream, per a YouTube video from Tony East. "Their size at most all positions has been a challenge for us. So we're gonna have to combat that with our discipline, number one, and with our reads on the offensive end of the floor.

"Secondly, just the way they space the floor. I mean, they do a really good job... in shooting the three, but also doing it in a different way, and utilizing their post touches and their dominant interior players to score or to find open shooters," she continued.

Of course, it doesn't help that Indiana has been snakebitten with various significant injuries to this point in the season, particularly within their backcourt. Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, Aari McDonald, Sydney Colson, and forward Chloe Bibby are all missing the rest of the season with injuries, which makes Indiana's task even tougher.

ESPN Makes Bleak Indiana Fever Playoff Prediction

On September 13, ESPN published an article that includes complete predictions for each first-round series. Nine members of ESPN's staff were asked to predict how the Fever's first-round matchup against the Dream would go, and all nine predicted that Atlanta would win the series.

What's more, eight of them predicted the Dream would win the best-of-three series in two games, and just one predicted Indiana would win a game before getting bounced.

For what it's worth, there were very few dissenting opinions among the nine writers throughout the article. Only one of the four first-round WNBA playoff matchups wasn't unanimous (one person predicted the Phoenix Mercury would beat the New York Liberty), and every single person predicted that the 2025 WNBA Finals would be between the Minnesota Lynx and the Las Vegas Aces.

WNBA playoff picks: From every first-round series to Finals MVP, we predict how the postseason will shake out. Are the Lynx and Aces on a collision course? https://t.co/pZozARCTvY
— ESPN Women's Hoops (@ESPN_WomenHoop) September 13, 2025

There were a bit more contrasting opinions for how that WNBA Finals matchup would play out, with six writers predicting the Lynx would win and three predicting the Aces.

The good news is that predictions ultimately don't mean a thing, and the Fever would prove ESPN and the entire basketball community wrong if they can come out firing against the Dream. The sports world has certainly seen more unexpected things than Indiana procuring a first-round upset.

This article first appeared on Indiana Fever on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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