Fever defeat Dream in OT to secure key win as season winds down - ESPN

ATLANTA — Angel Reese stood still with her eyes closed for a moment before letting loose an expletive that could have summed up Sunday afternoon for the Atlanta Dream.

The team came within two point-blank misses as time expired from defeating the Indiana Fever in regulation, drawing Reese's ire. Five minutes of overtime gave the Fever a 95-91 win in a game with playoff implications in what seemed like a postseason environment inside State Farm Arena.

The Fever's victory split the season series between the teams 2-2 as they sit in the No. 4 and No. 5 playoff slots. With their fourth win in a row, the Fever (23-12) got a whiff of breathing room as they took a 1½-game lead over the Dream (21-13) in the standings, and they're now a half game back of the Las Vegas Aces (24-12). The Minnesota Lynx and Aces are the only teams that have clinched a playoff spot as the 44-game regular season winds down.

The game was held inside the home of the Atlanta Hawks to accommodate a raucous crowd made up of dueling fanbases that are passionate about their young stars in Caitlin Clark and Reese.

«We're all aware of the standings and the seedings,» Clark said. «So, this was a really important one for us to come in and get, and that's kind of like the story of this whole road trip. This is the last matchup with a lot of these teams that we have, and a lot of these teams are really good and possible teams we'll maybe see in the playoffs.

»Coming into each night, we know how important that win is to hopefully get home court advantage in the playoffs.

"[Coach] Steph [White] made a great point in the locker room after the game," Clark said. «This felt like a playoff game with the little adjustments you're making.»

The Fever upset the Dream 2-1 in