“I think just being in this locker room, we never doubt ourselves on what we’re capable of, no matter what happens,” Aliyah Boston said Sunday. “I think the entire staff, from the head down, just made great decisions when people went down on who to bring in, the type of people to bring in, and we never doubted ourselves. We never doubted that we could be in the playoffs.”

The Fever had to bring on multiple players on one or two days’ notice. Odyssey Sims joined the Fever on Aug. 10, getting one practice before playing in a game for the first time. Shey Peddy, who joined the team on Aug. 20, had two practices before playing her first game. Aerial Powers signed with the team on Aug. 23, getting just a morning shootaround before checking in for the first time.

All three of those players have become key rotational players for the Fever, and Sims is Indiana’s starting point guard. And that “We all we got, we all we need” mantra became an energizer for the Fever, especially for the players who joined midseason.

“Coming in, the first thing that really made me like, woah, was Kelsey goes during guard shootaround, ‘We all we got, we all we need,’” Powers said. “And right then and there I was like, ‘Yep, I felt it already.’ Coming in and feeling the grit, the grind that the team has, top to bottom, and being able to insert myself, it’s been amazing.”

 It showed them, at the base level, how Indiana was never going to give up even in a time of unprecedented hardship. The Fever built their culture to fight, no matter who is or isn’t on the court.

“We can’t help the ones that aren’t here, which is unfortunate, but we can help the ones who are, and be present about that and not disrespect the game,” Mitchell said. “I would like to think that CC, Aari, Syd would want to play and be in our shoes. So I think the ‘We all we got, we all we need’ is a respect thing, but to put it in the air that we all we got and we all we need, because that’s how it is, and that’s how it’s always been.”

That culture, that mantra culminated in a playoff berth for Indiana. The Fever will be no lower than the No. 7 seed in the playoffs, and could move up to six if they beat the Lynx on Tuesday and Golden State loses each of its final two games.

Indiana’s season hasn’t been what anyone expected, from the coaching staff, to the players, to the fans. But it still shows an upward trajectory for the Fever, who have now made the playoffs for two straight seasons after missing it for seven straight from 2017-23.

It’s a change in culture for Indiana, a will to fight even when it seems like all hope is lost. The Fever will bring four players on hardship waivers into the playoffs, but they’re not counting themselves out of anything.

“When you can go through and grow through these types of experiences, it lays a foundation for championship culture and championship mindset,” Fever coach Steph White said. “That’s our ultimate goal, to be able to take it one day at a time, to be able to put ourselves in a position to be in the playoffs, and now a mindset of finishing the regular season and then make a noise in the playoffs.”

Indiana’s playoff opponent hasn’t yet been determined. The Fever have one more regular season game against the Lynx on Tuesday, then will tip off the playoffs on the road on Sept. 14.

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