Tuesday’s Indiana Fever vs. Toronto Tempo game was in the news for both good and bad news, and at the center of both opposing storylines was Kelsey Mitchell. The Fever star had a historic night, but Mitchell’s aggression was also in line with the temperature inside Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

A near-physical altercation between Mitchell and Tempo’s Marina Mabrey became a big highlight. WNBA analyst Rosalina Lee was surprised by the rare outburst from Mitchell, which saw her confronting Mabrey early in the third quarter and led to both players receiving technical fouls.

“I’ve never seen Kelsey Mitchell talk trash like this… Kelsey Mitchell just turns over to her and actually pushes her. She says, ‘No.’ She goes right to Marina Mabrey’s face and says, ‘Stop f—— around like that.'” Lee said in her postgame analysis on her YouTube channel.

Mitchell is one of the most aggressive scorers in the league. However, the Fever veteran has displayed a rare control over her emotions throughout her career. But on Tuesday, she didn’t just push Mabrey; she had some strong words for her opponent too.

With nine minutes remaining in the third quarter, Mitchell was being defended by Mabrey in the corner. Before Aliyah Boston could pass the ball through the screen, Mitchell stopped and shoved Mabrey and had some words for her.

Lee wasn’t the only one who noticed an out-of-character emotional outburst from Mitchell. While her teammates Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham are known for being expressive on the court, the usually composed Kelsey Mitchell’s reaction caught color commentator Rebecca Lobo off guard too.

“Mitchell never does this. Mitchell never does this. Even when she gets frustrated, when she doesn’t get calls, she generally walks the other way and just has a smile on her face. I have not seen her interact with a player like this,” Lobo said in her commentary.

Mabrey was getting physical in her defense on Mitchell, but that’s normal in a WNBA game. What exactly happened that the Fever star had to get in her opponent’s face is still not clear.

Perhaps the best explanation could be the temperature inside Scotiabank Arena, which forced Mitchell to exit the game later.

“Overheated” Kelsey Mitchell exited Fever-Tempo minutes after the Marina Mabrey confrontation.

Mitchell headlined the Fever-Tempo game for another reason. In the last minutes of the third quarter, Fever HC Stephanie White subbed her out. Mitchell sat on the bench for a few minutes, but exited to the locker room at the start of the fourth period.

“Update on Kelsey. It seems like she just got overheated… I mean, this is two games in a row where we’ve played in really, really hot environments. So, all indications are right now that she was just overheated,” White told reporters before taking questions during the post-game presser.

The Fever have now played back-to-back games, both on the road. On Monday, they faced the Atlanta Dream at State Farm Arena. However, Mitchell’s injury could be concerning for the Fever and the player herself because she was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis last year, after Game 5 of the semifinal series against the Las Vegas Aces.

The Cleveland Clinic defines it as “a condition that causes your muscles to break down (disintegrate), which leads to muscle death… This dangerous muscle condition can result from overexertion, trauma, medications or an underlying health condition.”

However, the Indiana Fever head coach explained that she didn’t think Mitchell exerted herself to that extent.

“Not that I am aware of. I am not sure,” said the Fever coach when asked about that possibility after the game. Meanwhile, Caitlin Clark also complained about the “million degrees” temperature in Canada after the 101-95 win.

On the positive side, Mitchell scored 29 points in just three quarters. With her 20th consecutive 20-point game, she has tied A’ja Wilson for the most consecutive 20-point games in WNBA history.