INDIANAPOLIS — If you wanted polite basketball, this wasn’t your night. For forty breathless minutes, Sophie Cunningham and Paige Bueckers turned Gainbridge Fieldhouse into a pressure cooker—jawing, jostling, and answering each other’s punches until the scoreboard finally blinked Dallas 81, Indiana 80. The series belongs to Indiana (3–1), but this one? This belonged to a rookie who refuses to blink and a veteran who refuses to back up.

The Duel We Came For

From the opening tip, the Cunningham–Bueckers assignment was a fistfight dressed up as footwork. Bueckers, the No. 1 pick now running Dallas like she’s been here for years, kept snaking into space for short pull-ups and laser-hit kickouts. Cunningham answered with bully drives, timely threes, and the kind of chest-to-chest defense that lives rent-free in a scorer’s head. Final lines tell the story: Bueckers 16–5–8, Cunningham 14 points, both essential to their teams’ heartbeat.

The Flashpoint: A Shove, A Whistle, And A Look

Late in the first half came the moment everyone will replay. Fighting through tight coverage, Bueckers gave Cunningham a slight shove to create daylight; the whistle went against Cunningham, who immediately tossed up the universal “are you kidding me?” hands. It wasn’t a brawl—it didn’t need to be. One shove, one call, and the temperature went from simmer to rolling boil.

Wings Find Oxygen, Fever Find Fire

Dallas grabbed control with Maddy Siegrist’s career-tying 22 and Li Yueru’s thunderous 20 off the bench, plus a humming 25 assists on 30 makes—the kind of “everybody eats” tape coaches save for clinics. Indiana countered behind Kelsey Mitchell’s 24 and a late avalanche that nearly stole it back. The fourth quarter swung 25–14 Fever, including a 19–3 closing run that had 16,000 people standing on the same breath. Then the horn cut the air. Dallas by one.

The Final 12 Seconds (That Will Live on Talk Shows)

Down one with 11.7 to go, Indiana chose to push instead of huddling. The read didn’t materialize; dribbles bled sideways, the timeout came too late, and the last-gasp corner look never stood a chance. Afterward, coach Stephanie White owned it—saying she should’ve stopped play a beat earlier. That honesty will play well in film; it didn’t change the L on the board

The Numbers That Cut Through the Noise

Bueckers: 16 PTS, 5 REB, 8 AST, + all the late-clock poise of a ten-year vet.

Cunningham: 14 PTS on 5-of-10 with 2 triples, a tone-setting two-way shift.

Siegrist: 22 on 9-of-13, momentum buckets on command.

Li Yueru: 20 in 27 minutes—soft hands, hard finishes.

Mitchell: 24 and a stack of tough makes.
Attendance: 16,027; Series: IND 3–1 DAL.

The Subplots You Missed While Yelling at the TV

Caitlin Clark, still sidelined (groin), was a full-throated presence on the bench—animated with officials, emotionally stapled to every possession. Her intensity mirrored a building that refused to sit down.The larger Fever discourse—physicality, officiating consistency, and how to manage end-games without a true second ball-handler—only got louder after this one. Expect that to stay loud until the next close finish goes rightThe larger Fever discourse—physicality, officiating consistency, and how to manage end-games without a true second ball-handler—only got louder after this one. Expect that to stay loud until the next close finish goes right

The Bottom Line

Call it what you want—a war of wills, a chess match with elbows, a rookie vs. a road-grader—but the Cunningham–Bueckers show delivered the purest WNBA drama: stars making stars do uncomfortable things. Dallas escapes. Indiana simmers. And somewhere in a quiet film room, both players will circle the next meeting in ink.

Game essentials & receipts: official box/flow (score, lines, attendance, series), the shove/foul flashpoint, Dallas’ assist party, and White’s end-game explanation are all sourced below