ATLANTA — Kelsey Mitchell scored 29 points, including the game-winning free throws with five seconds left, Caitlin Clark added 19 points and the Indiana Fever disappointed a record crowd in Atlanta by beating the Dream 84-79 on Monday night.
In the final seconds, and with no timeouts, Atlanta missed two 3-pointers but grabbed two offensive rebounds before turning the ball over, leading to Mitchell's free throws.
Aliyah Boston had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Indiana, and Damiris Dantas scored 11 off the bench to help give the Fever (14-16) their most wins in a season since going 17-17 in 2016. Clark had four 3-pointers, tying Atlanta's Rhyne Howard's 2022 rookie-season record of 85.
Clark also added seven assists and seven rebounds to her shooting stats. It was her 21st game this season with at least 15 points and five assists, which is the most in a season in WNBA history, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
“Our chemistry has gotten better,” Clark said of the Fever's recent play, adding that individually, she is “really excited because I feel like there are a lot of areas I can continue to improve in, and that's exciting as a player.”
Atlanta (10-19), which began the day a half-game out of the final playoff spot, trailed by 18 points early in the second half when Clark hit a 3-pointer before outscoring the Fever 41-32. The Dream got within two points before Indiana had a five-point possession that halted the comeback.
Tina Charles scored 21 points to lead Atlanta, which moved the game to the home of the Atlanta Hawks and set a record attendance of 17,608, surpassing the crowd that showed up for the previous game against the Fever (17,575). Howard scored 16 points, Allisha Gray added 12 (none after being flagrantly fouled by Boston midway through the third quarter) and Jordin Canada scored 10 for the Dream.
Howard's 3-pointer pulled Atlanta within 76-74 with 4:13 left, but after grabbing an offensive rebound, Clark found Lexie Hull for a 1-and-1 layup a minute later. Hull rebounded her missed free throw and passed to Mitchell for a 1-and-1 layup that she converted for an 81-74 lead.
Nia Coffey hit a 3-pointer for Atlanta with just under a minute to play to make it 82-79.
Mitchell scored 15 points and Boston had 12 on 12-of-21 shooting as the Fever took a 52-38 halftime lead.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, Mitchell has a combined 105 points in Indiana's last four games, matching the record he set last year for most points in a four-game span in Fever history.
At half-time, tribute was paid to the gold medal-winning team from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
