Fever thump Storm, move ahead in standings

For the second time in three meetings, Fever forward Aliyah Boston dominated in the paint and a slew of backdoor layups from Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell tormented the Storm, who never put up much of a fight and fell 95-75 on Tuesday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

It was a costly loss for Seattle, which had its three-game winning streak snapped.

Indiana (20-18) swept the three-game regular-season series and moved into sixth place in the standings ahead of Seattle (20-19), which is a half a game back and tied with Golden State (19-18) at seventh.

The Storm were one of the hottest teams in the league while winning four of their previous five games.

However, Seattle, which has played six games in 12 days and four straight on the road, appeared gassed from the start.

Mitchell scored seven points in the opening four minutes, including a finger roll layup that put the Fever up 17-7.

Indiana led 26-20 after the first quarter and Lexie Hull sank a three-pointer that dropped the Storm into a 42-29 hole late in the second period.

Aside from nine turnovers, the Storm’s offense was relatively effective in the first half while shooting 50% on field goals.

However, Seattle was unable to slow down Indiana, which led 50-39 at the break. The Storm never got any closer the rest of the way and were outscored 45-36 in the second half.

Indiana’s All-Star tandem Boston and Mitchell were particularly problematic.

Boston, who scored a season-high 31 points during Indiana’s 94-86 win against Seattle on June 24, once again bullied and bulldozed a Storm front line comprised of Ezi Magbegor, Nneka Ogwumike and backup center Dominique Malonga.

The 6-foot-5 Fever center finished with a game-high 27 points on 10-for-18 shooting and nine rebounds in 27½ minutes.

Mitchell scored 21 points while newly signed Odyssey Sims poured in 22 points for the short-handed the Fever who were missing Caitlin Clark (groin), Sophie Cunningham (knee), Sydney Colson (knee), Aari McDonald (foot) and Chloe Bibby (knee).

Dating back to last season, Indiana has won four straight games against Seattle, including a 78-74 win at Seattle on Aug. 3. After that win, the Fever were 2-6 record in their next eight games before Tuesday’s rematch with the Storm.

Ogwumike scored a team-high 17 points, Brittney Sykes had 12 while Skylar Diggins finished with six points, eight assists and four blocks.

The Storm finish their five-game road trip on Thursday against the Minnesota Lynx.