Christie Sides Explains Decision to Bench Fever Starters in Loss to Sun

Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides decided to pull her starters out early in the third quarter. She said defensive effort was a big reason behind the decision.

Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides / Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

About midway through the third quarter, Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides decided to make a major change in the lineup. Trailing the Connecticut Sun by nearly 30 points, she benched the starters for the final 15 minutes of the game.

Connecticut defeated Indiana 89-72, falling to 3-10 on the season. The only starter to log more than 22 minutes in the game was second-year star Aliyah Boston, who finished the game with 14 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.

Sides kept other starters — Caitlin Clark, NaLyssa Smith, Kelsey Mitchell and Kristy Wallace — on the bench for most of the second half. She said effort was a big factor in that decision on Monday night.

"I'm gonna start with — you can't, at this level, coach effort," Sides said. "I felt like we were just trying to ask them to keep playing hard. You can't start there. You can't play in this league if you have to coach effort. It's just too hard.

"We were down 28 and I wanted to put a group in there that would go out and play some defense. Really, really proud of that group that went out there and cut the lead. They played hard. We've got Atlanta coming up, we've got Chicago coming up. Just thinking ahead."

Indiana has dealt with some serious growing pains this year, even with back-to-back No. 1 picks in Boston and Clark. Seven of the Fever's 10 losses have been decided by double digits.

Entering Monday's game, the Fever had found some level of success, having won two of their last three games. Indiana defeated the Chicago Sky 71-70 on June 1 and the Washington Mystics 85-83 on June 7.

But Connecticut is one of the top teams in the WNBA this season. The Sun have now won all three games against the Fever this season.