Kelsey Mitchell scored 18 points, four teammates finished in double figures and the Indiana Fever never trailed during an 83-72 victory over the WNBA-leading Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday in Indianapolis.
Odyssey Sims added 15 points, Aliyah Boston had 10 points and eight rebounds and Natasha Howard and Damiris Dantas scored 10 each for the playoff-bound Fever (24-20) in their regular-season finale.
Jessica Shepard had 16 points, Maria Kliundikova scored 12 and Alanna Smith added 11 for the Lynx (33-10), who had long since clinched the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. They will conclude the regular season at home against the Golden State Valkyries on Thursday.
Minnesota played without DiJonai Carrington, who is sidelined by a shoulder injury, and MVP candidate Napheesa Collier, who rested.
Indiana salvaged the finale of the three-game regular-season series with Minnesota, but the Fever also defeated the Lynx 74-59 on July 1 to win the Commissioner’s Cup. The Lynx won two recent meetings — 95-90 at Indianapolis on Aug. 22 and 97-84 in Minneapolis two days later.
Smith made a field goal and a 3-pointer to complete a 9-0 run for the Lynx to start the third quarter, pulling the visitors within 49-45. Boston made two free throws for the Fever’s first points of the period after 2 1/2 minutes and started a 21-8 run that gave Indiana a 70-53 lead at the end of the third quarter.
The Fever produced the first 10 points of the game as four different players scored. Kliundikova’s short jumper produced the Lynx’s first points after nearly three minutes and started a 6-0 run.
Aerial Powers made two 3-pointers and scored a total of eight points as Indiana rode an 18-8 run to a 28-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Shepard made a layup to start the second-quarter scoring and Kliundikova followed with another layup before the Fever took their biggest lead of the half, 47-30, on a field goal by Mitchell.
Smith made four three throws and Courtney Williams added a basket just before the buzzer to help the Lynx trim the deficit to 49-36 entering halftime.
–Field Level Media
