INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever just did something they never did in 2025. Last year, the Fever were 13-0 when they scored at least 92 points in a game. They went 1-8 when scoring less than 78. Usually, the formula was obvious — if the offense hummed, the 2025 Fever would.
The 2026 Fever have high hopes, and they are certain to be a better offensive team than defensive. On opening night, they hosted the Dallas Wings in their first chance to show what they can be. And Indiana scored 104 points, surely enough to win if last season’s group proved anything.
And yet, after a long game featuring 53 total fouls and multiple officiating-related reviews, the Indiana Fever lost on opening night 107-104. Only one time ever in franchise history had the team previously scored 104-plus points and lost — a 115-106 loss in double overtime against the Chicago Sky on August 18, 2018.
Saturday’s game didn’t reach double overtime. It didn’t even go to one. In regulation, the Fever gave up 107 points for the seventh time ever without extra periods. Their defense was invisible, and it cost them against the Wings.
“I think it comes down [to] a little bit of personnel, knowing who you’re guarding, knowing how you’ve got to guard them. I think that’s one issue in which we have to get better at,” star guard Kelsey Mitchell said of her team’s defense. “I think collectively, just a little more pride, a little bit more pride in taking (defense) seriously,” she added, pointing specifically to rebounding and their inability to prevent certain opponents from getting going.
The Fever gave up 27-plus points in each of the first, second, and fourth quarters. They were a bit tighter on that end of the floor in the third period — Caitlin Clark called that frame the “only quarter we put together.” That stretch was not sustained.
Indiana mixed up coverages. They sent double teams to Paige Bueckers at times, but not always. Frontcourt players were higher up on ballscreens against certain ball handlers. Usually, the specific coverage the Fever were trying to deploy at the point of attack did happen.
But the execution was poor. Wings’ ball handlers, particularly Bueckers and Odyssey Sims, made it into the paint all night. When they were cut off by help defenders, other Dallas players were open for three-point jumpers or cuts into the lane. The Wings made 12 of their 23 threes and had 22 of their 27 made two-point shots come in the paint.
In short, things were easy for Dallas. Too easy. During Indiana Fever media day in April, star center Aliyah Boston made it clear that, as competitors, the team’s approach is championship or bust. That’s a noble goal after a banged-up Fever team was five minutes from a trip to the WNBA Finals last year. But to reach title heights, the Fever will have to defend. And they’ll have to do so much more effectively than they did against the Wings on Saturday.
“Our offense is obviously not the issue. We’re perfectly fine on offense,” Clark said postgame. The Fever know they’ll score well enough, and they did in this game. Clark even noted that the locker room vibe was largely positive postgame. But it was a losing effort.
Not having Monique Billings was undeniably a factor. She was the Fever’s priciest external addition in the offseason, and there was hope her size could help the team improve on some weaknesses from last season. “I think we’ll be able to do some more things on the defensive end of the floor. I think we’ll hopefully be a better rebounding team as well, and that will allow us to play a little bit more in transition,” head coach Stephanie White said during training camp.
Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women’s Sports Daily
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women’s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women’s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!
Billings sat out with an ankle injury. But her absence alone is far from enough to make sense of the Fever’s defense in their opener. They’ve got work to do on that end of the floor.
“We’ve gotta be more disciplined. It’s the difference in their uncontested looks from three and our contested looks from three,” White said after the loss. “Sometimes we were over-rotated and we didn’t need to be. Sometimes we had coverage breakdowns unnecessarily. We were hanging around, not going to the offensive boards, but not getting back in transition defense, we gave up a lot in transition. So all correctable things.”
Beyond rebounding, White pointed to fouling jump shooters as a problem. The Fever committed 25 fouls on Saturday, more than they did in all but five games last season.
That’s just one of many jarring stats compared to last season. The Wings made 39 shots, more than any Indiana Fever opponent in 2025. They had 26 assists, which would have been the third-most by any team last season. Maybe this will end up being the low point for the Fever’s defense this season — some numbers suggest that’s possible.
But even if that’s the case, it was a very low low point. And if the Fever want to reach the championship goals they have for themselves, things will need to be better on the less glamorous end of the court going forward.
“We’re not going to be able to outscore teams in this league. Everybody’s too good,” White said. “You’ve got to defend multiple positions and teams expose you if you’re undisciplined. So we’ve just got to be better. We know that and, and the good thing is that it’s all correctable.”
The next few days of film and practice will now be important as the team looks to correct these mistakes. Billings’ return and a normal minutes load for Lexie Hull will also be beneficial going forward. There’s a chance this game, and result, are forgotten as the Fever tighten things up defensively going forward.
But they do have to tighten things up, especially if they’re going to be as good as they hope they can be. They have three days off before their next game to figure that out.
“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is out now!
Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.
