Injured Sophie Cunningham was forced to watched the Indiana Fever seal their spot in the WNBA playoffs semifinals from the sidelines but that didn’t stop her from being caught up in the sidelines.
The No 6 Indiana Fever advanced to the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs in a major upset over the No 3 Atlanta Dream thanks to a narrow 87-85 victory in the elimination game on Thursday night.
However, it wasn’t all plain sailing for the Fever as Cunningham, who is recovering from a knee injury, found herself in a standoff with a police officer.
With just over four minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Dream leading by six, Indiana star Odyssey Sims hit the court, appearing to have sustained yet another injury for the Fever.
Sims intercepted a bad pass from Atlanta forward Naz Hillmon and tore downcourt for a one-on-one breakaway.
Sims went up for the layup but was intercepted by Dream superstar Allisha Gray, who sent her crashing to the court as she attempted to block the shot.
Injured Sophie Cunningham was caught in a standoff with a police officer on Thursday night
The Indiana Fever star is sidelined as she continued to recover from a knee injury
Sims remained down as officials reviewed the play for a potential flagrant foul on Gray. She eventually got back to her feet and was able to continue in the game.
However, that didn’t assure the fiery Fever stars on the sidelines, including Cunningham and Caitlin Clark.
During the timeout, an agitated Cunningham walked to center court to check on her teammate with Clark and Chloe Bibby hot on her heels.
However, a uniformed police officer swiftly approached Cunningham for her infringement on the court, motioning for her to backup.
But Cunningham refused to budge, instead staring down the officer with her hands on her hips.
The guard eventually moved away after standing her ground for a few seconds. Ultimately, no flagrant foul was called, and Sims made both of her free throws.
Despite missing Clark and Cunningham, among its injured players, Indiana closed on a 7-0 run to win a playoff series for the first time since 2015. The sixth-seeded Fever will play on Sunday against the winner of Thursday´s other Game 3 between Seattle and Las Vegas.
Boston was left alone under the basket for an easy layup after Jones, of all players, went to the ground going for a loose ball. It gave Indiana an 86-85 lead, its first since it was 33-30 in the second quarter.
Cunningham watched on as the Fever sealed their spot in the WNBA playoffs semifinals
Rhyne Howard twice had trouble inbounding the ball in the final seconds, with Hull coming from behind to poke it away from Jones. Indiana got it to Odyssey Sims, who went 1 of 2 at the free-throw line to give Atlanta another shot with 1.2 left. Jones’ off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark.
Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 24 points and Boston had 14 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Sims had 16 points and eight assists, and Natasha Howard added 12 points.
Allisha Gray had 19 points and 12 rebounds for her first playoff double-double to lead Atlanta. Jordin Canada also had a double-double with 18 points and 10 assists. Rhyne Howard scored 16 points and Jones had 12.
