The biggest issue for the Indiana Fever in Game 1 of the 2026 playoffs wasn’t limited to a single player or a poor stretch; it was an untried lineup, according to one WNBA analyst. As the team went down to the defending champion Las Vegas Aces, she pointed to the team’s strange decision to start searching for answers when their playoff series had already begun.
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That analyst is former women’s college basketball pro Rachel DeMita. During an episode of her Courtside Club show, she pointed to one specific lineup decision made by the Fever, as well as their substitutions during the game. The segment was clipped and posted to the Courtside Club Instagram account.
“There was a lineup out there today of Caitlin Clark, Raven Johnson, Lexie Hall, Sophie Cunningham, and… I think it was KK Timpson,” she said. “Mercedes Russell was the first player off the bench today. When in this season has Mercedes Russell been the first sub off of the bench? And that’s something that I just don’t understand with this team. How are you still experimenting on things in a three-game series in the first game of the playoffs?”
According to stat-tracking website databallr.com, the lineup that DeMita described played just one minute over the entire regular season, showing just how the Fever were willing to experiment against the Aces, perhaps to their detriment. One of the reasons that the Fever decided to rely on rookie guard Raven Johnson is also because backup guard Tyasha Harris has been ruled out for the season due to a broken fibula.
Johnson made the opportunity count and was one of the Fever’s best players in the 102-85 loss to the Aces. She logged 14 points, the second-most points she has scored this season, on 6-for-7 from the field in 22 minutes, adding two steals as a force on the defensive end, something Indiana struggled with.
Even DeMita highlighted her as a standout player, while lamenting her being placed in such a high-leverage situation without the due experience.
“I thought [Johnson] was great today, and that is so hard for a rookie in her first-ever WNBA playoff appearance for a season where she hasn’t seen double-digit minutes aside from, like, two of the last four games,” she said.
“Aside from that, she has not seen double-digit minutes since early July… But the fact that she’s even put in that situation bothers me. And I get it, Ty Harris got hurt… But you’re not gonna sit here and convince me that Ty Harris had this massive role on this Fever team.”
Johnson has averaged 10.9 minutes this season in 39 games, and before the final four games of the season, she had last logged double-digit minutes against the Phoenix Mercury on July 9.
Johnson’s breakout playoff performance might end up being one positive from the Fever’s experimentation, especially with the team struggling on the defensive end during Game 1. The Aces shot 59% from the field and 47% from three, and saw four-time MVP A’ja Wilson light them up for a playoff career-high 38 points. After the game, Fever guard Caitlin Clark graded her team’s defensive effort against Wilson and co. an “F.”
Fever head coach Stephanie White called out her team for not stepping up when needed in the postgame conference, while praising the Aces for their tried and tested championship core.
“I felt like we had urgency at moments, and you can’t have that,” she said. “Give Vegas credit. They’re defending champions for a reason. They understand the moment. They understand that playoffs require a different version, a different level of intensity and urgency, and they came with it.”
With Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell, the Fever’s two primary scoring engines, failing to score as efficiently as they did in the regular season, the brunt of the scoring came from Aliyah Boston and Johnson. Johnson scored more than Mitchell, and one point less than Clark, both of whom hold the second and third positions for most points averaged in the regular season, albeit behind A’ja Wilson.
Johnson came into the league as a guard known for her defensive skills, and with Game 2 set to take place on September 29 in Indiana, only time will tell if she can make a difference for the Indiana Fever, who will look to extend the series in a must-win Game 2 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.