Did anyone expect anything less from Kelsey Mitchell?
Seriously.
On the road for a first-round elimination game against the Atlanta Dream, the Indiana Fever guard led all scorers in her 35 minutes played with 24 points on 7-of-16 shooting with three triples, a 7-for-7 mark at the line and a plus-6 rating.
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Mitchell’s first field goal cut the score to 19-15 about six minutes into regulation; her last bucket marked the beginning of a series-clinching 7-0 run over the final 2:05.
Final score: Indiana Fever 87, Atlanta Dream 85.
The Fever are moving on for the first time since 2015 when they defeated the New York Liberty to advance to the WNBA finals.
“Kelsey puts us on her back a lot,” Stephanie White said, an apt observation that drew smiles from both Mitchell and Natasha Howard.
“We run her ragged, but she’s so dangerous in those ball screens,” White continued. “And I think what you’ve seen over the course of the past two months is that she’s not only a great scorer, but the gravity she brings. She makes the right plays, she makes the right reads. You put the ball in her hands to make plays for us and she’s been able to do that.”
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Mitchell’s final points came with over two minutes left in regulation, but she was critical to Aliyah Boston’s go-ahead basket with 7.4 seconds remaining.
Atlanta poked the ball free on an attempted exchange between Mitchell and Boston just inside the 3-point arc. Mitchell beat Jordin Canada and Brionna Jones to the loose ball, took one dribble, then — with Allisha Gray reaching in for the steal — spun and passed it back to Odyssey Sims on the wing. Sims spotted Boston underneath the basket and flung a pass over the defense to set up the go-ahead score.
A brilliantly executed play — with a bit of luck involved.
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“The hustle play by Kelsey to keep the ball alive, then O to be able to see AB loose was huge,” White said. “And then the finish.”
Mitchell’s clutch performance Thursday night completed what was an excellent series for the veteran guard, who averaged 23.3 points on 46.8% shooting (44.4% from 3; 18 for 19 on free throws), 2.7 assists and a rebound in three games.
Mitchell, who averaged 31.4 minutes during the regular season, was good 32.3 minutes per game vs. Atlanta, though that figure was lowered a bit in Game 2 when she was able to sit out the fourth quarter (29 minutes played).
The Indiana Fever will travel to Las Vegas for Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals at 3 p.m. Sunday (ABC).
Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Kelsey Mitchell leads Indiana Fever to WNBA Playoffs win at Dream
