Tempo Fever recap: Mitchell hits 29 as Indiana wins 101-95
The Indiana Fever beat the Toronto Tempo 101-95 on Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena, as Kelsey Mitchell scored 29 points and set a WNBA single-season scoring mark with her 20th straight 20-point game. The road win was Indiana's fifth in a row, while the Tempo Fever result stretched Toronto's losing streak to 11 games.
Key Takeaways
- Mitchell's 29 points led Indiana, and her 20th consecutive 20-point game set a WNBA single-season scoring record, per Field Level Media.
- Caitlin Clark added 24 points and seven assists as the Fever moved to 24-12.
- Toronto fell to 10-24. Marina Mabrey scored 22 points, and Brittney Sykes returned from a foot injury with 15.
- Indiana led 81-69 after three quarters, then held off a late surge that cut the gap to 97-93.
How did Kelsey Mitchell make WNBA history?
Mitchell finished with a game-high 29 points in the Fever's first visit to Toronto. Field Level Media reported that she set the WNBA record for the most scoring in a single season with her 20th consecutive game of 20 or more points.
She reached 20 points on a layup with 6 minutes and 3 seconds left in the third quarter, putting Indiana up by 10. Near the end of the fourth quarter, Mitchell went to the locker room and did not return.
The outburst followed a 20-point night in Indiana's 95-91 overtime win at Atlanta on Sunday. Entering Tuesday, she already had 27 games of 20-plus points this season.
How did the Fever hold off the Tempo in the fourth quarter?
Indiana shot 61.9 percent in the first quarter (13 of 21) and led 33-23. Toronto cut the gap to six with 7:10 left in the second, but the Fever answered with the next 11 points.
Aneesah Morrow's three-pointer made it 57-49 at halftime. Indiana shot 59 percent before the break, while Toronto shot 42.2 percent.
Mabrey scored two baskets in the first minute of the third quarter and trimmed the lead to four. Temi Fagbenle later hit a three to cut it to five with 2:03 left in the period. Indiana closed the quarter on a 9-2 run and led 81-69.
The Fever opened the fourth with a 12-point edge that grew to 14 when Sophie Cunningham made three free throws with 6:45 remaining. Indiana then went cold from the field, and Toronto got within seven with 2:55 left.
A steal by Makayla Timpson set up a Cunningham three, restoring a 10-point lead with 1:25 to play. Mabrey then hit two straight threes to make it 97-93 with 59 seconds left. After an Indiana turnover, Toronto had the ball with 21 seconds remaining, but Mabrey was called for palming and Kiki Rice was fouled. The Fever closed out the 101-95 win.
Clark finished with 24 points and seven assists. Aliyah Boston scored 16, and Cunningham had 13.
For Toronto, Morrow posted 14 points and 16 rebounds. Fagbenle scored 13, and Rice had 10. Sykes, sidelined since June 16 with a left-foot issue, returned and scored 15.
What does the Tempo Fever win mean for Indiana's playoff push?
The Fever are 24-12 after a fifth straight win. They had opened a five-game road trip with that overtime victory in Atlanta and entered Tuesday at 23-12, sitting fourth in the playoff picture. The Tempo are 10-24 after an 11th consecutive loss. Toronto had not won since July 12 against the New York Liberty in Montreal.
Indiana had already beaten Toronto 113-91 on June 16. Pre-game markets listed the visitors as heavy favorites, with implied win odds near 77.6 percent. For more odds-driven recaps, see BlasterPost's Fintech & Crypto Alerts.
Caitlin Clark said after Sunday's win that everyone is aware of the standings and the seeds. "So that win was very important for us. That's pretty much the story of this whole road trip," she said.
"This is the last matchup against a lot of these teams, and a lot of them are very good and could be our playoff opponents." She added that each win matters for playoff home-court hopes. Tuesday's result kept that road-trip push alive.