INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Fever closed out the regular season with a dominating win over the league-leading Minnesota Lynx, 83-72, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse — though it was a game that didn’t have any impact on the standings.
Kelsey Mitchell finished with 18 points, which secured a 20+ points-per-game season for the Fever star. Odyssey Sims added 13, while Aliyah Boston had 12 points and eight assists.
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The Fever finished the regular season with a 24-20 record, which is the first time they’ve finished a season over .500 since 2015.
Wait and see: Who will Fever play in the WNBA Playoffs?
Here are two observations from the game:
Fever aim to fine-tune rotations in low-stakes game
Indiana has already clinched a spot in the playoffs, and their seeding now falls into the hands of how Golden State ends the season. But Fever coach Stephanie White didn’t have any plans to rest her players or try out new rotations Tuesday night.
The Fever will be the sixth seed if Golden State loses out. Otherwise, Indiana will be the seventh seed. Golden State has the tiebreaker over Indiana.
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Indiana has seen a lot of change over the past month, with five season-ending injuries to crucial players: Caitlin Clark (right groin/left ankle), Sophie Cunningham (right MCL), Sydney Colson (left knee), Aari McDonald (right foot) and Chloe Bibby (left knee).
The Fever have had to bring in multiple players on hardship waivers, and all of them have had heavy rotational roles. Sims, who joined the Fever on Aug. 10, starts at point guard.
So, White aimed to use this game to get her lineups and substitutions more reps in what was a relatively low-stakes game.
“We’re still trying to get our unit cohesive,” White said. “We’ve had enough challenges in terms of getting groups together. I think that we started to find a little bit of a rhythm in our substitution pattern, and want to continue to fine-tune that.”
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Lynx rest star Napheesa Collier
Minnesota didn’t have much to play for in on Friday; it locked up the No. 1 seed throughout the playoffs on Aug. 30 with a win against the Connecticut Sun.
So, the Lynx’s final five games of the regular season had one objective: Get into the postseason as healthy as possible. Minnesota has been resting one of its starters per game since it clinched the No. 1 seed, and Tuesday night was star forward Napheesa Collier’s turn. Collier averages 23 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, and the Lynx missed her presence on the court.
Collier is someone who has been in the MVP conversations all season, but it wasn’t worth risking injury, especially as she missed multiple games with an ankle injury earlier this season.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Fever beat Lynx in regular season finale, wait to see who they’ll play in WNBA playoffs
