Two nights ago, Natasha Howard had a chance to give the Indiana Fever a dramatic win over the Atlanta Dream, but missed two potential game-winners in the final seconds. The veteran forward redeemed herself on Thursday in an 81-76 win over the Dream, and showed exactly why the Fever wanted to bring her to town.
Howard finished with a game-high 26 points on 12 of 17 from the field, and chipped in seven rebounds, two assists and a steal in her 29 minutes, giving Indiana a huge lift on a night where Caitlin Clark scored only 11 points.
Howard was one of the Fever’s key free agent signings during their busy offseason. The veteran forward boasts the defensive chops and championship experience the Fever were missing, but also has the ability to put the ball in the basket and take some of the pressure off of the Fever’s Big Three of Clark, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell.
In the Fever’s one-point loss to the Dream on Tuesday, Howard was unable to do so. She managed just six points on 3 of 9 from the field, including her two misses at the end of regulation, and the Fever fell despite a combined 75 points from Clark, Boston and Mitchell.
On Thursday, however, everything was reversed.
“Getting out of my own head,” Howard said, when asked what the difference was between her performance in this game. “I was in my own way. But thank God I have my teammates behind me to bring that confidence out of me tonight. I couldn’t do it without them and my coaching staff as well.”
Clark, Boston and Mitchell struggled to get going against the Dream’s physical defense, and only scored 32 points on 13 of 37 shooting as a unit. Last season, that would have meant a blowout loss for the Fever. Thanks to Howard, they were able to withstand a rare rough night from Clark and Co.
Howard largely carried the team in the third quarter, when she scored 13 of her 26 points. She also came up with some big plays down the stretch, including a tough reverse layup with just over two minutes remaining that cut the deficit down to two and started a game-ending 10-1 run.
While Howard led the way, she wasn’t the only member of the Fever’s supporting cast to step up in Atlanta. Lexie Hull had 10 points and four assists off the bench, while Sophie Cunningham added nine points, six rebounds and three assists in her first game with the team after missing the first two with an ankle injury.
“We have a team where we can go 11 deep,” Fever coach Stephanie White said. “We talk a lot about some days it’s gonna be your day. Some days it’s not, right? We have to choose the ‘we’ over the ‘me,’ and we have to stay ready so we don’t have to get ready. Every single person impacted this game in a positive way and I’m really proud of them.”
With this win, the Fever improved to 2-1 on the season, which has them in fourth place in the standings, behind only the three undefeated teams, the New York Liberty, Minnesota Lynx and Phoenix Mercury.
The Fever will be in action next on Saturday against the Liberty on CBS. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. ET.
This news was originally published on this post .
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