Fever reach WNBA semifinals with 87-85 win over Dream, Boston shoves Bri Jones

Indiana Fever advanced to the WNBA semifinals with an 87-85 victory over the Atlanta Dream in Game 3 on Thursday night, sealing the series 2-1 and ending the Fever's playoff drought dating to 2015. The sixth-seeded Fever were without Caitlin Clark due to an injury, but Aliyah Boston delivered the decisive basket, scoring on a drive with 7.4 seconds remaining to put Indiana ahead.

Earlier, Boston and Dream forward Bri Jones became entangled while battling for position near the edge of the paint. Boston shoved Jones with her shoulder, sending Jones to the floor. Officials assessed Boston a technical foul, while Jones drew a personal foul for the sequence, the flare-up underscoring the high-stakes nature of the elimination contest.

Indiana responded in the final seconds to close out the series. The Fever outlasted the Dream 7-0 after Boston's late layup gave Indiana an 86-85 lead, the first time the Fever had led since 33-30 in the second quarter. Rhyne Howard twice struggled to inbound the ball in the final seconds, with Hull coming from behind to poke it away from Jones. Odyssey Sims then went 1 of 2 at the free-throw line with 1.2 seconds left to push the margin to two, and Bri Jones's off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer fell short as Indiana held on.

Boston finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and six assists; Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 24 points, while Sims added 16 points and eight assists; Natasha Howard scored 12. For Atlanta, Allisha Gray had 19 points and 12 rebounds for her first playoff double-double, and Jordin Canada added 18 points and 10 assists. Rhyne Howard contributed 16 points, and Jones had 12 in a losing effort.

Indiana will face the winner of Seattle vs. Las Vegas in Sunday’s semifinal round, continuing a postseason run that began without Clark and will now push deeper into September.