Fever's prolific offense encounters Dream's stout defense

Across their four-game winning streak, the Indiana Fever have pieced together the two best offensive outputs of any team in the regular season.

Their next challenge will be extending their high-scoring ways against the Eastern Conference's best scoring defense when the Fever host the Atlanta Dream on Thursday in Indianapolis.

No WNBA team surpassed the 111-point mark during the first five weeks. Then Indiana (9-5) beat the Chicago Sky 114-106 in overtime last Thursday and topped the Toronto Tempo 113-91 on Tuesday.

The Fever are led by Kelsey Mitchell's 20.8 points per game and Caitlin Clark's 20.4 scoring average, but it has been the recent contributions of role players such as Sophie Cunningham that have helped the Fever ascend to the No. 3 spot in the East -- a half-game behind Atlanta (9-4)

Cunningham (10.1 ppg) scored 35 points on 9-for-11 shooting from 3-point range in Indiana's last two games.

"I think our team is starting to catch a little bit of a rhythm," Cunningham said. "We're seeing what works. We're sharing the ball. Our defense is allowing us really good offensive runs. I don't think it's just me; I think it's our team as a whole."

Cunningham paces the Fever with a 43.4 percent 3-point clip (23-for-53).

Atlanta (9-4), meanwhile, enters the night as winners in three of its last four. Last time out, the Dream held their opponent to less than 80 points for the seventh time during a 102-77 victory over Toronto. Head coach Karl Smesko's team leads the Eastern Conference with just 80.7 points allowed per game.

Atlanta trailed by 12 after one quarter against Toronto on Sunday before allowing just 52 points over the final three quarters.

"When you play better defense and either force turnovers or tough shots, it's a lot easier to get into your transition game," Smesko said. "That's how we want to play every game. We started off a little slow before we really decided to start pushing the tempo."

Allisha Gray (19.6 ppg) and Rhyne Howard (18.9 ppg) lead the Dream in scoring. Angel Reese, who grabbed 11 offensive boards Sunday against Toronto, averages 14.6 points and a league-leading 12.3 rebounds per contest.

Reese has posted nine double-doubles in 13 games in her first year with Atlanta. The Dream are 8-1 when she earns a double-double, but 1-3 when she doesn't.

--Field Level Media