INDIANAPOLIS — As Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides almost unbelievingly watched her team’s nine-point, fourth-quarter lead dwindle to a down-to-the-last-seconds finish against the Dallas Wings, her face contorted into unnatural expressions.

Heartburn? Indigestion?

After the Fever managed a 110-109 victory in its final home regular-season game leading up to its first playoff appearance since 2016, Sides was asked if she wanted to call a timeout to pop some blood pressure pills. Yes, she said, that seemed like a grand idea.

“I sure could use some blood pressure pills,” Sides said of skating through some tense moments.

Freedman

Instead, the Fever walked off with its 20^th win of the season. That is the franchise’s most wins since 2015 and guaranteed a a .500 record entering Thursday’s road game against the Washington Mystics.

That accomplishment, with a young, rebuilding team is a big deal, Sides said. Especially in the context of being the second season of a four-year rebuilding plan and this season’s 1-8 start.

“I never would have thought we would have got 20 wins,” Sides said.

It was Fan Appreciation Day at Gainbridge and there were 17,274 fans present, a sellout again. All but three of 20 home games were sold out this year, an unprecedented outpouring of Fever love. This passion carried over to road arenas, too, where sightings of Fever and Caitlin Clark jerseys were commonplace.

Guard Kristy Wallace, a member of Australia’s bronze-medal Olympic team in Paris, only saw full houses wherever she dribbled this summer.

“Oh, it’s incredible,” Wallace said. “It’s great to be part of.” It has been a contrast to games of her youth back home when those in the stands “were lots of family.” And nobody else.

The Fever sewed up sixth-place and will face the third-place Connecticut Sun, which will have the advantage of the first two games at home in the best-of-three series starting Sunday.

It will take an early Fever win to earn a home game on Sept. 27, a very big goal. Making the playoffs was a goal achieved, but the players want to keep going.

“The job is not done,” said guard Erica Wheeler. A nine-year veteran, she appeared in one playoff game for the Fever in 2016 and three for New York in 2015. That was so long ago, she had no advice to give younger teammates about what to expect.

Those young players, such as rookie guard Caitlin Clark and second-year center Aliyah Boston, expect to win, or at least create some havoc as a lower seeded team. If there are doubters, Clark isn’t one of them. She said this is where she expected to be from the start.

Those feverish fans believe in the Fever, but the players believe in the consistency of the Indiana fan support, filling the building to the rafters regularly and filling other teams’ arenas, too.

“These are the best fans in the world,” said second-year guard Grace Berger, a former Indiana University star, who may test that theory later this fall when she joins a pro team in Ankara, Turkey.

One way the Fever can surprise a higher-seeded playoff team is if Temi Fagbenle, the 6-foot-4 frontcourt back-up from Great Britain can show top form after enduring three injuries this season. A long-armed defender who has been sidelined at times by foot, thumb and right shoulder injuries, if she is in shape, she can be very valuable off the bench.

Fagbenle has been playing again since the end of August, but said she wondered if her woes would keep her out indefinitely.

“I am clearly blessed,” she said. “I kind of worried. I just pushed (to return). I didn’t know if I could. My goal is just to give what I can to the team.”

The Fever are younger than most teams, albeit with good chemistry and some as-good-as-anyone weapons like All-Stars Clark, Boston, and guard Kelsey Mitchell.

Mitchell and Clark, both averaging just shy of 20 ppg., complement each other and Sides has taken to calling them “The Dynamic Duo.” When hot, either can hit from long range and change the flow of a game. They also make their free throws and both can drive to the hoop, Mitchell at a faster speed.

Since either can unleash a 30-point night, they provide the Fever with a puncher’s chance against anyone. Recently, Clark scored 35 points and Mitchell 30 – in the same game – against Dallas. Mitchell went for 36 versus Dallas on the road in early September, too.

“We need to mentally get up to the next step,” Mitchell said of the playoffs. “We need a sense of focus.”

They also need a win to reignite the devoted, noise-making, energetic, team-worshipping Gainbridge fans one more time. With a bit of incredulity in her voice, Clark has marveled at the raw enthusiasm.

“You hype them up and they listen to you,” Clark said.

To the degree anyone can hear anything in the building.