Caitlin Clark and Fever Taunt Booing Atlanta Crowd After Upsetting Dream in 1st Round

Caitlin Clark-less Indiana Fever were not favored to win their 1st round playoff series against the 3rd seeded Atlanta Dream.

Caitlin Clark and Fever Taunt Booing Atlanta Crowd After Upsetting Dream in 1st Round

Caitlin Clark's Fever taunted booing Atlanta fans (Image via FirstSportz)

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When a team loses 5 of its best players to season-ending injuries, usually that would mean they would be gunning for one of the lottery picks. Not the Indiana Fever, who were battling the Atlanta Dream despite not having Caitlin Clark and 4 other important pieces in playing health.

Clark struggled with soft-tissue injuries, and finally ended any possibility of a return before even the team could finish the regular season. The other 4 were in no position, with a couple of them likely out for a year.

That left the franchise to field a team with 4 short-term contract players and one who did play for much of their regular season. Despite those shortcomings, those players had the same competitive drive that has become part of the Fever’s culture ever since Clark entered the building.

That fight to survive saw them win Game 2 after losing Game 1 under controversial circumstances. In that game, they displayed what it takes to win when all the odds were stacked against them.

They were facing the league’s 3rd-best team, which had a full roster at their disposal. Then they had to play the deciding Game 3 in Atlanta, where the passionate Indianapolis fans would not be present.

Despite those odds, the away team did not give up and continued to fight all the way to the end. A string of clutch plays later, away players booked the franchise’s first semifinal appearance in a decade.

After the game, as Caitlin Clark and her teammates were walking off, the Atlanta crowd booed them. The point guard and rookie Mikayla Timpson threw up victory signs as a way to taunt them back.

Team effort won the Fever this 1st round series

In the second half of their regular season campaign, the Indiana Fever realized they had to play as a team. Caitlin Clark’s groin injury, then the subsequent injuries to the others, saw the team rely on each other rather than latch onto the coattails of their leading stars.

Fever's all-round team performance won them the series
Fever’s all-round team performance won them the series (Image via Indiana Fever/X)

Their top 3 players, namely, Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston, and Natasha Howard, did their part. So did Odyssey Sims and Lexie Hull. But it was the others on the bench who had a significant impact.

In various aspects of the game, every other player performed their roles with perfection, helping the Fever come back from a 1st half deficit to stay within touching distance of the Dream.

Then, in the final minutes of the 4th quarter, when the home team threatened to end their season, the team collectively came back in style. Every player on the floor in the final 6 minutes either scored, assisted, defended, or helped create an impactful play.

That helped them score the final 4 points that would give them the lead. Then their total team defense ensured the Dream did not get off a shot in the final 7.4 seconds to seal a major upset.

Caitlin Clark and Fever gave her Air Force 1s credit for their win

Ever since Caitlin Clark exploded in college, she has been wearing a good collection of custom Kobe Bryant shoes whenever she plays basketball. Until her signature shoe comes out later next year, she prefers the custom PEs that Nike designs exclusively for her.

While she was out injured, the 23-year-old resorted to the sneaker giant’s plethora of options. But in their stellar Game 2 win, she sported a pair of all-black Air Force 1s with matching black socks.

Her teammates trolled her for the combination, but it seems they believed those shoes somehow helped them win. To help continue the superstition, Clark wore the combination again in Game 3 and even helped fellow injured point guard Aari McDonald wear a pair.

After winning the game, the latter asked Clark to take off one shoe, and she held it up high as the team pointed at the sneaker. They were laughing and smiling when they did, suggesting those sneakers somehow helped them win.

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