The Indiana Fever endured a chaotic night against the Golden State Valkyries, with technical issues and inconsistent play compounding an already challenging start to the season and now it seems as though things might be tense behind closed doors.
The Fever‘s latest defeat, particularly in the absence of star Caitlin Clark, has highlighted underlying disagreements within the locker room, as two players publicly diverged from Stephanie White‘s interpretation of the game.
The matchup at Chase Center was marred early by a series of shot clock malfunctions. With 9:25 remaining in the second quarter, the clock failed to reset following an Indiana rebound, halting play for five minutes.
Then less than a minute after the game resumed, the clock froze again for 19 minutes, leaving players and fans alike frustrated by the interruptions as the team couldn’t build any momentum.
“It certainly affected the rhythm of the game,” White said. “I don’t know if it affected the readiness at all. But yeah, I mean it’s disruptive. It’s not something that you expect to see.
“But we often talk about controlling the things that we can control, and we couldn’t control that. So staying warm and staying engaged. I thought that we did what we could to work through the issue.”
However, despite White’s assurances, not all players agreed with her perspective as the veteran forward, Natasha Howard, dismissed the impact of the technical difficulties on Indiana’s performance
“That type of stuff we can’t control,” Howard said after the contest. “So with that, it didn’t throw off no rhythm at all, nothing like that. Like I said, some things we can’t control on either team.”
Howard’s remarks highlighted a split in opinion, suggesting that some players were less willing to accept external factors as the primary cause of the loss – although that’s good from an accountability perspective.
On the court, the Fever struggled to regain momentum, allowing the Valkyries to dictate the pace despite the repeated stoppages. Golden State capitalized on defensive lapses, particularly late in the fourth quarter.
Ariel Powers, who put up 17 points and four rebounds, also weighed in on the postgame discussion regarding the shot clock issues, cutting through White‘s narrative as she disagreed with her boss.
“No, I don’t think that was part of it,” Powers said. “It was our defense. No excuses with the shot clock.
“No matter what, they had to play against it too. It wasn’t just on us. So, no excuses there. We just had some defensive mishaps for sure.”
Who do the Indiana Fever play next?
The Fever will next be in action on Tuesday as they take on the Phoenix Mercury at the PHX Arena in Arizona, with a win putting them one step closer to the WNBA Playoffs.
The Mercury, meanwhile, are 25-14 for the season and one win behind the Las Vegas Aces in the Western Conference standings. Tip-off is from 22:00 ET/19:00 PT.
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