SAN FRANCISCO – A series of unfortunate events, including shot clock malfunctions, contributed to the Fever’s defeat against the Golden State Valkyries on sunday night.

“Every game we play from now on is a playoff game,”

the game experienced a significant delay early on due to a power outage that affected the shot clock. The issue persisted, leading to multiple stoppages and a prolonged first half. Despite the disruptions, the fever’s struggles extended beyond technical difficulties.

“I don’t think (the shot clock’s) a part of it,” said Aerial Powers, who led the Fever with 17 points. “It was our defense. No excuses with the shot clock, no matter what. they had to play against it too. It wasn’t just on us. So no excuses there. We just had some defensive mishaps,for sure.”

golden State capitalized on Indiana’s zone defense, shooting effectively from beyond the arc. The Valkyries’ ball movement and accurate passes made it arduous for the Fever to adjust defensively.

“Their passes are on time and on target, so you can’t make a lot of defensive mistakes,” Fever coach Stephanie White said. “And I felt like we over-helped. We were trying to not allow catch and shoot 3s. We didn’t want to over-help on drivers. We over-helped, we over-rotated. The timing on our rotations wasn’t very good,and we gave them wide open catch and shoot 3s.”

Ultimately,Golden state shot 12-of-19 from 3-point range and over 50% from the field. Indiana’s defensive struggles hindered their offensive production, preventing them from establishing their usual transition game.

“I just felt like we weren’t aggressive,” White said. “We were very tentative offensively. We didn’t play with any kind of pace. So even when we had opportunities to run in transition, we were jogging the ball up the floor. We allowed them to set their defense, and they’re one of the best defensive teams in the league, and you can’t allow them to do that.”

The loss has significant implications for the Fever’s playoff positioning, as they now find themselves in a tight race with other teams vying for a spot.

Following the defeat, Indiana (21-19) dropped to eighth in the standings, trailing Seattle (22-19) and Golden State (21-18). However, they maintain a lead over ninth-place Los Angeles (18-20).

With four games remaining,the Fever face crucial matchups against Phoenix,Chicago,Washington,and Minnesota. Their “magic number” for securing a playoff berth is four, combining their wins and Los Angeles losses.

“That’s one thing Steph said in the locker room, every game we play from now on is a playoff game,” Fever forward Natasha Howard said postgame. “We’re trying to stay in that playoff race and play in the postseason. And our main thing is that we focus on the scouting report of whoever we got next.”