Damiris

Dantas

Dantas has been in the league’s concussion protocol since Indiana’s first practice preparing for the postseason and has missed the entirety of the Fever’s ongoing playoff run. With Dantas unavailable, Brianna Turner has played consistent rotation minutes off the bench, with rookie Makayla Timpson receiving a slight boost to her playing time.

Dantas missed the first two games of this series and will also sit out Thursday’s finale. Her absence leaves the Fever light on frontcourt depth off the bench, with Brianna Turner picking up the slack. She played 20 minutes in Tuesday’s victory, finishing with four points, six rebounds, one assist, two steals and one blocked shot. Makayla Timpson’s playing time has increased slightly, but Turner is the player fans should focus on for Game 3.

Dantas’ injury is just the latest in a season filled with bad luck for the Fever regarding health and player availability. The veteran forward has served as a depth piece in the frontcourt, offering floor-spacing ability. In her absence, Brianna Turner and Makayla Timpson could see more opportunities off the Fever’s bench in their Game 1 contest against the first-seeded Lynx.

Mitchell reached at least 20 points for the 24 time this season. She became the fifth player in WNBA history to score 850 points in a single season and joins Jewell Loyd, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi and A’ja Wilson. Mitchell moves to second all time when it comes to most points scored in a total season for a guard and is just 77 points behind Loyd with two games left. Mitchell scored her points both on and off the ball. She started scoring off assists from Aliyah Boston and Shey Peddy and then finished the game by creating with the ball in her hands. She reached the line three times and made all of her free throws. Mitchell also facilitated the ball at a high level on Friday night, finding front court players Boston, Natasha Howard and Damiris Dantas. She attracted two defenders to the ball often and was able to find her teammates rolling to the basket.

Bibby is out for her third straight game as she continues to deal with discomfort and soreness in her left knee. While head coach Stephanie White initially thought this was going to be a short term injury and holding her out this past Friday was out of precaution, Bibby has remained out. Prior to Tuesday night’s game, White told reporters that she hopes Bibby will be back in practice by the end of the week. But until then, the Fever will have to deploy defensive big Brianna Turner, stretch big Damiris Dantas and rookie Makayla Timpson especially since the Storm have a larger front court.

After Bibby didn’t play in the Fever’s Friday night game against the Lynx at home, she will miss her second straight game on Sunday night. Bibby didn’t travel with the team to Minneapolis and head coach Stephanie White noted the reason she stayed back in Indianapolis was so that she could do more rehab and keep the swelling down. Without Bibby, Damiris Dantas will take on some of her minutes in addition to Brianna Turner when the Fever need a more defensive-minded substitution.

All but one of Mitchell’s scores came on rim pressure, as she at times got downhill at will. Although Mitchell wasn’t the most efficient shot maker on Friday night, however she was the Fever’s most effective playmaker. She hit a season high in assists against the Mystics and distributed the ball to four different teammates in Lexie Hull, Odyssey Sims, Damiris Dantas and Aliyah Boston. Her chemistry with Boston especially was on the display as five of Mitchell’s nine assists went to Boston. The two operated very comfortably on pick-and-roll, dribble handoffs and different pocket passes. Mitchell’s gravity as a driver helped get her teammates much more open looks which included three pretty wide open three-point looks for Hull, Sims and Dantas.

Dantas provided some solid production off the bench for Indiana in its win over Phoenix. In only 10 minutes of gameplay, she made a nice impact, finishing as one of five players to score in double figures on Wednesday. Dantas’ high-scoring output came on the heels of back-to-back games in which she didn’t record a single point. Her contributions were especially necessary through the first three quarters when Indiana’s starting frontcourt combined to score 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting. She likely won’t be worth adding in fantasy leagues, but the veteran’s floor spacing could be important for the Fever as the season progresses.

Mitchell led the Fever in scoring in an efficient evening. She didn’t rush her shots and was able to score the majority of her points in the first half by putting pressure on the rim and going downhill, creating her looks by herself. In the second half, however, Mitchell’s three field goals were all assisted. She scored in the second half also at the rim moving off the ball and cutting into space to receive passes from teammates Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham and Damiris Dantas. Especially when Clark was having trouble making shots, and Aliyah Boston was well defended by Tina Charles and Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Mitchell was a formidable first option.

Tuesday’s game will be the second Bonner has missed for personal reasons, and the veteran forward does not have a timeline for return. The return of Sophie Cunningham on Saturday helped Indiana compensate for Bonner’s absence, and Damiris Dantas also picked up a few more minutes.