The No. 6 Indiana Fever officially pulled off the first upset of the 2025 WNBA Playoffs, as their series with the No. 3 Atlanta Dream finished with an 87-85 Indiana win. This marks the Fever's first trip to the semifinals since 2015 — the year they went all the way to the championship as a No. 6 seed.
So, you might be wondering how this Fever squad managed to do it. They have been riddled with brutal injuries all season long. Their star, Caitlin Clark, played minimal games before being named out for the season. Four other players also had season-ending injuries — Sophie Cunningham, Sydney Colson, Chloe Bibby, and Aari McDonald. It seemed like the universe was working against this bruised and battered Fever team, but nonetheless, they made the playoffs.
In Game 1, Indiana fell to the Dream with a final score of 80-68. The elite Dream guards, Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard, had 20 points each. But Gray shot 9-of-10 from the free-throw line, where most of her points came from. In Game 1, she only hit 1-of-5 from deep and 5-of-16 from the floor. I think the Fever knew if they could continue to contain her and not allow her to draw as many fouls, they'd have a chance.
That exact scenario came to fruition in Game 2. Gray did not see the free-throw line a single time — and they contained her offensively. She shot 25.0 percent from both the floor and beyond the arc. She ended up only putting up 9 points in Game 2 as the Dream fell to the Fever, 77-60.
Game 3 was a much closer contest — ultimately sending the Fever to the semis with an 87-85 win. While Gray had 19 points, she still struggled a bit from three-point range, shooting 1-of-5. In such a close game, this could have been a deciding factor. She ended the series 3-of-12 from deep, and with 38.3 percent from the floor.
The Fever took away the Dream's biggest offensive weapon
Obviously, the Dream's series cannot just be put on one player. Plus, this is very uncharacteristic for Gray, who shot 38.4 percent from beyond the arc this season. This is more so a nod to the Fever's ability to contain the Dream's star players and pull off the upset here. Indiana will now face the Las Vegas Aces in the next round. This will be the ultimate test — the Aces are hot right now, as they ended the regular season on a 16-game winning streak. Las Vegas has some phenomenal guards themselves in Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, and Jewell Loyd. So, I have a feeling Indiana's ability to shut down guards will have to prevail once again if they want to win this series.