Shorthanded Lynx fall 83-72 at Indiana in penultimate game of regular season

Heading into Tuesday night’s game in Indianapolis, the worst loss of the season for the Lynx was against the Indiana Fever in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game July 1. That loss didn’t count in the regular-season standings.

On Tuesday, the Fever sent the Lynx to an 83-72 defeat. The Fever led by 24 points in the fourth quarter before the Lynx outscored Indiana 17-4 over the final six minutes to avoid their worst loss of the season. The worst defeat of the season for the Lynx that counted was a 14-point setback against Seattle on Aug. 28.

On July 1 at Target Center, the Fever held the Lynx to a season low in points in a 74-59 victory for the Commissioner’s Cup.

BOXSCORE: Indiana 83, Lynx 72

WNBA standings

The Fever — who have clinched the No. 7 seed for the WNBA playoffs despite playing without five players (Chloe Bibby, Caitlin Clark, Sydney Colson, Sophie Cunningham and Aari McDonald) sidelined by season-ending injuries — earned their first victory in the three regular-season meetings against the Lynx. The Lynx won 95-90 on Aug. 22 at Indiana and 97-84 on Aug. 24 at Target Center.

Kelsey Mitchell scored 18 points and Odyssey Sims added 15 on Tuesday for the Fever, who closed out their regular season with a 24-20 record.

“It’s one of those things,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said in her postgame comments to the media. “If you don’t make shots, you have to work your way through it. We lacked that mindset tonight. Jess was great. She always competes.”

For the game, the Lynx shot 44.6% (33-for-74) from the field and were 2-for-20 from three-point range. The Lynx went into the game with the league’s best three-point percentage (38.5%).

Indiana, which shot 48.4% (31-for-64) from the field, opened the game with a 10-0 run in the first 2½ minutes. The Lynx pulled to within 14-8 with 4:35 left, but the Fever went on a 12-2 run, fueled by eight points from Aerial Powers, to take a 26-10 lead with one minute remaining in the quarter. Indiana led 28-14 after 10 minutes.

The Lynx scored the first two baskets of the second quarter to cut the Fever’s lead to 10 points, but Indiana eventually built a 17-point advantage before the Lynx scored the final two baskets of the half to pull within 49-36 at halftime.

The Fever were 19-for-33 (57.6%) from the field in the first half, while the Lynx shot 41% (16-for-39) from the field and were 0-for-12 from three-point range.

The Fever opened the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run to open a 79-55 lead with six minutes remaining.

The loss dropped the Lynx to 14-8 in road games this season — still the WNBA’s top road mark. Atlanta takes a 13-8 road record into its road finale Wednesday at Connecticut.