‘Whole new ball game’: Dream’s defense helps put chill on Fever in Game 1 win

Dream coach Karl Smesko knows what time it is. Much like he has all season, he has ensured that his team has all the necessary preparation and tools to engineer success.

So, when Smesko arrived at his pregame media availability at Gateway Center Arena for the Dream’s Game 1 playoff matchup against the Indiana Fever on Sunday, wearing a pair of black Air Force 1s, the coach was ready to stand on business.

Smesko and the Dream understood that with the playoffs here, the approach to the game would experience a shift. With the stakes higher, the focus on the little details would go up, the physicality on the court would increase and the Dream would have to be ready for anything.

A first-quarter 15-6 Fever run may have suggested otherwise. But Smesko and the Dream didn’t balk.

“I think it was a kind of what you might expect from a first game in the playoffs,” Smesko said. “People were kind of feeling each other out, seeing where there’s a weakness, trying to attack that weakness.

“But I really like our team. I think we have been playing really well going into the playoffs. I have a lot of confidence that if things don’t start off well, that we can pull together and make comebacks.”

On Sunday afternoon, the Dream pulled together a comeback and won a playoff game for the first time since 2018. They downed the Fever 80-68 in a physical game, where bodies hit the deck early and often.

“We know that the playoffs is a whole new ball game, way more physicality, less calls,” Dream forward Rhyne Howard said. “Obviously, that wasn’t the case today, but just coming in with the mindset of wanting to punch first and knowing that it’s going to be physical, knowing that you’re going to be playing in a dogfight.

“I think that really helped us — even with the slow start, because we still were able to combat what they were doing and making sure that we were able to get back on track and making sure that we were able to get ourselves back going.”

The Dream finished the regular season as the WNBA’s second-best defensive team and that’s what they leaned on to engineer Sunday’s win. They held the Fever to just 12 points on 4-of-17 shooting in the second quarter. They allowed just 15 points on 4-of-13 shooting in the fourth.

They held the Fever — a team that ranks fourth in the WNBA in 3-point shooting percentage — to 2-of-15 shooting. Guard Kelsey Mitchell and forward Lexie Hull, the Fever’s top high-volume shooter this season, went a combined 2-of-9 from deep.

“I think being able to stop them from getting second chances is really what we keyed in on,” Howard said. “We know who they want to go to. We know who’s going to take those shots and making sure that we make those shots hard, make them tough for them to make, and then getting the first rebound and pushing from there.”

Dream forward Naz Hillmon echoed Howard’s sentiments when asked how the team avoids a Game 3 in the best-of-three series.

“I think the biggest thing is our defense. Our defense is what I truly feel like fuels our offense. Indiana is a great offensive team, and if you let them get hot, let them get going, it can turn into a really ugly game. So you have to key in on their key players.

“Of course, they’re going to go to them with their backs against the wall a little bit, but also making sure that the rest of their team who aren’t necessarily their key players, don’t get second-chance opportunities or run out lay ups. Like we have to make everything harder because of it, and I think that after that, everything else will take care of itself.”

In addition to chasing the Fever off the 3-point line, the Dream used bodies to limit players in the post. They held Aliyah Boston to just three field goals and she struggled to match the Dream’s intensity on the defensive end, picking up five fouls in the process.

At times, the Dream’s physicality flustered the Fever, leading to a pair of consecutive technical fouls from coach Stephanie White and guard Odyssey Sims in the fourth quarter.

The Fever, though, plan to be ready come Tuesday for Game 2 in Indianapolis.

“I think at the point of attack, defensively and offensively, we gotta be the one to punch first,” Mitchell said when asked what needed to change for the Fever. “Like, literally, you gotta be the one that throw a couple punches first when it comes to making an impact on a game. You can’t allow them to do it for you.

“I think you give yourself an edge here as a home team. So, when they punched us, they punched us hard, and so we have to do the same thing, vice versa, in order to get our momentum and get our rhythm running fast and off the ground early.”

While the Fever don’t have plans to hold their punches, Smesko and the Dream are ready for battle just like they have all season.

“We went into the first meeting and we made it clear that we have really high goals,” Smesko said. “This wasn’t going to be a year that we were going to be satisfied with everybody telling us that, ‘Wow, you really improved over last year.’