Four games remain in this regular season; it only remains to be seen which teams end up securing what seed heading into the playoffs. For now, Angel Reese’s Atlanta Dream (4th) and Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever (5th) are currently positioned to face each other in the first round of the playoffs. While none of the teams are the championship favorites over the Minnesota Lynx or defending champions Las Vegas Aces, they are also not expected to be in the first round either.

So when WNBA reporter Noa Dalzell appeared on the No Cap Space podcast, host Andrew Haubner asked who Dalzell thinks has a better chance at making a deep run, whether they end up facing each other or not.

“I think I do have them in the same tier. I guess it’s kind of matchup-dependent. I think if I had to pick one team between the Dream and the Fever that’s more likely to win it all, I would probably go with the Fever.”

The Indiana Fever have a better offense, and the Dream have a better defense. But it will eventually depend on the overall caliber of either team to execute what they are best at. The Fever are playing a historically great offense and are ahead of the Dream in net rating. 

“The Dream, I have some questions about; the Fever, I have some questions about. I don’t feel very solid in my forecasting of either team,” she added. “But then again, you look at last year’s Indiana team with all the injuries they faced. They came like an overtime period away from advancing to the finals and beating the Aces.”

Last season was difficult for Indiana, and yet they defied every expectation in the playoffs. They defeated the Atlanta Dream in the first round before facing the future champion Las Vegas Aces in the semifinal. Despite missing Caitlin Clark and other crucial pieces like Sophie Cunningham, Sydney Colson, and Aari McDonald, the Fever took A’ja Wilson and the Aces to the series-deciding Game 5 before falling short in overtime.

“So, it’s like I have this like weird faith in what Stephanie White’s been able to do with that group. Um, Kelsey Mitchell playing the best basketball of her career. Aaliyah Boston. Like, I just think they have enough if it can all kind of come together, probably more so than Atlanta.”

There was little expected of the Fever given that one of their top two players was not in the lineup and exited the season after 13 games. Despite lacking key contributors, the Fever ended up surprising everyone, and a lot of credit goes to Kelsey Mitchell, who proved to be the most difficult puzzle for Becky Hammon.

However, the unsung hero of the series was Stephanie White. The Fever head coach would have exited in the first round, and she wouldn’t have been blamed for it. However, she instead convinced her team to rally behind her. Aaliyah Boston, Odyssey Sims, Natasha Howard, and Lexie Hull- every player played hard and almost took the team to the Final.

However, there are glaring parts to the Fever that also make them vulnerable against the Dream. Indiana is the fifth-worst team in forcing turnovers. The Dream leads in that category. Indiana’s overall defense often fails against good offensive teams because Caitlin Clark and Mitchell tend to become the Achilles heel of their team on the defensive end. 

Moreover, one of the areas that seriously needs to be addressed is a defensively minded player at the four. Unlike the Dream, Indiana has a lot of holes in the defense, which becomes perhaps the most important aspect of a championship team.

Can the Fever do it anyway? Well, it’s hard to deny them the credit that they are more than capable of outscoring the best team in the league on any given night. The Dream, however, defeated the Minnesota Lynx in their last game before the 2026 FIBA World Cup break. That says something about them too.