The Indiana Fever started the 2025 season under intense pressure, but they have thrived when it mattered most. Now just a game away from the WNBA Finals, the team has proven time and again that it excels in high-stakes situations, turning adversity into a competitive edge.

The Fever are 3-0 in win-or-go-home games, and Stephanie White credits their regular-season setbacks to their playoff readiness. “I just think that this group has had a lot of moments where we’ve felt like our back is against the wall. You know, whether it meant that in our season or not, I think everything that we’ve gone through has positioned us to be able to handle moments like this.” She said in their Practice Media Availability.

There have been multiple moments, right from the training camp to the final day, where Fever would have seen darkness in their path ahead. Losing Caitlin Clark and learning to play without her was a steep curve for this side. Immediately during Clark’s first absence, the Fever lost consecutive games to the Washington Mystics and the Connecticut Sun, sides that should have been light work. 

As time went on, the team adjusted, and Aari McDonald thrived as a replacement. Just as they were getting into some sort of flow, both McDonald and their backup, Sydney Colson, suffered season-ending injuries in that same Phoenix Mercury game. They were essentially back at square one, again. Kelsey Mitchell and Sophie Cunningham alternated point guard shifts at one point. Cavalry arrived in the form of Shey Peddy and Odyssey Sims, but integrating them required time. 

Meanwhile, Cunningham was next to go with an MCL tear in the second quarter of that Connecticut Sun game, but the Fever rallied regardless. (The Fever point guard position is definitely cursed.) It felt like a must-win game for the Fever for playoff qualification with the Minnesota Lynx three times on the horizon, and the squad answered with the biggest comeback victory in franchise history. This journey through the regular season has aged White “about five years,” making the playoffs look downright attainable. The feeling trickles to the squad as Lexie Hull echoed White on her response to this 3-0 must-win game stat.

“The resiliency. You know, we’re not ready to quit. We’re ready to put up a fight and especially when we know that it’s either season’s over or you win, that we are coming out and putting our best foot forward and trying to win. I think it just goes to show that we’re continuing to fight every single day.” Hull said. 

Fever’s grit has become their identity. Some have run-and-gun basketball, others have lockdown defense, the Fever are all heart, and Lexie Hull is the perfect representation of it. Her impact doesn’t mean much to the box score, but you watch the game and she is everywhere. Right from that clutch steal in Game 3 against the Dream to her elite perimeter defense, Hull has been central to this playoff run. Beyond her, the Fever have rostered a franchise-record 18 players in 2025, and no matter who came into the locker room, they have squeezed out every bit of talent from them. The Fever has now arrived at the business end of the series, but even after proving experts wrong multiple times, they remain the underdogs. 

No Home Edge: ESPN Doubts Fever in Game 5

After the Indiana Fever won the Dream series 2-1, they posted all the predictions from ESPN analysts. And 8/9 predictions said Dream to wipe Indiana in two games, while Michael Voepel said Dream would advance after 3. “Now You Know.” Indiana Fever wrote after the win in a savage moment. Cut to the semifinals, the ESPN prediction before the series was the same story, with the Aces slated to win in 4 or 5 games. 

Fever has already proved some wrong, but heading into Game 5, their home advantage disappears, which could be a problem, according to Kendra Andrews. “For Game 5, experience will be the biggest game-changing factor. The Aces are a proven championship team. That, paired with them playing on their home court, makes them the favorite to make it out of this series.” Andrews wrote.  

While they acknowledged that the Aces haven’t been invincible at home (losing Game 1), it gives them the edge in a winner takes all game but with one caveat, “In the first round, the Fever won their deciding game on the road over Atlanta, which went 16-6 at home in the regular season, just 11 days ago.” wrote ESPN. 

While that remains a cushioning fact, Aces are different than the Dream. A’ja Wilson and Co. were the second-best home team in the league with a 17-5 record. The Fever are not bad on the road but not very good either, with a 0.500 record in the regular season. 2 out of their 3 must-win games in the playoffs have come at home. Because of this, Stephanie White and the Indiana Fever will need to do more to advance.