Fever looking for first win as they host Wings (Jun 08, 2018)
There's no quit in the Indiana Fever.
Even though the team is winless through its first six games, the players are still working together and have the big picture in focus as they host the Dallas Wings on Friday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Friday's game is the first of three meetings this season. Dallas took two of the three regular-season matchups from the Fever last season with both victories coming in Arlington, Texas.
The Fever came back from a 20-point deficit on Saturday to force overtime against the New York Liberty before falling 87-80 at home. The 20-point come-from-behind effort would have set a record for the largest comeback in Indiana franchise history if the Fever could have finished with a win.
Indiana's 0-6 start is the longest losing streak to begin a season in team history.
"We have to maintain high levels of play on both ends of the floor for longer than 32 minutes," Indiana coach Pokey Chatman said after the loss. "We played 45 today. It's those lapses where you get a good shot but it doesn't go in so you get a little frustrated and commit a foul that have killed us. We have to get through those pivotal moments."
Indiana had four players score in double figures in the loss. Rookie guard Kelsey Mitchell paved the way with a season-high 26 points while forward Candice Dupree added 16 points and eight rebounds. Guard Erica Wheeler had 14 points and seven assists and Tiffany Mitchell hit for 10 points.
The Wings (3-3) head to Indiana on the heels of a 94-90 home victory over Seattle on Saturday as Skylar Diggins-Smith and Liz Cambage combined for 52 points for Dallas.
Diggins-Smith led the Wings with 27 points and Cambage saved her best for last, hitting on 17 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter to help stave off the Storm. Dallas put the game away on a pair of free throws by Diggins-Smith with 1.2 seconds remaining.
Dallas coach Fred Williams said his team is still learning to play together after the offseason addition of Cambage, who allows a lot of the Wings' offense to funnel through the post.
"It takes about five or six games for that to happen," Williams said of the learning curve. " The more reps we get with her, the better the feel we have for offensive cuts and patterns."
Three of the Wings' key players, Aerial Powers, Glory Johnson and Theresa Plaisance, did not play against Seattle because of injuries and will be game-time decisions against Indiana.
Williams said his shorthanded team is doing its best to keep up while waiting to get back his injured players
"They're trying to hold up," Williams told the Dallas Morning News. "They get a little tired. I think if we can just watch Sky's minutes and Liz's minutes, that's important for us right now."
Dallas signed Australian center Cayla George on Sunday to bolster its front line and to help Cambage, George's teammate on the national Olympic team.
