Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham woke up questionable and still found a way onto the floor. Now she is doing the same thing again, just with a lot less drama attached to it.
Cunningham addressed the back spasms that nearly kept her out of Wednesday’s loss to the Los Angeles Sparks, saying she feels good heading into Thursday’s game against the Phoenix Mercury. Asked whether the spasms are a recurring issue, she pointed to something simpler than an old injury flaring up.
“Oh no, I think I’m just getting old,” Cunningham said. “I got off the ground from stretching, and it just like kind of locked up on me.”
The spasms hit during pregame warmups. They left her questionable right up until tip-off. She still checked in at the 3:09 mark of the first quarter and finished with two points on 1 of 4 shooting in 11 minutes, well below her season average of 22.4 minutes a night. Sophie Cunningham said the limited workload actually left her fresher than usual. Cunningham has been one of Indiana’s most reliable shooters off the bench this season, knocking down threes at a near 43 percent clip while averaging 9.5 points a night.
“Honestly, because of my back spasm the other day, I actually feel pretty good because I didn’t really play much,” Cunningham said. “You never know what your body or games are going to throw at you, so you just have to be prepared.”
She also pointed to something unrelated to the back itself. Sophie Cunningham said dehydration played a role, tracing it back to a rough stretch with her stomach.
“I think I’m a little dehydrated. I had some kind of stomach issues, so it’s kind of hard to keep fluids down,” Cunningham said. “I think that’s kind of where it stemmed from, but much better.”
The Fever have bigger problems than one guard’s back. Indiana lost 106-92 in Los Angeles, and Cunningham did not sugarcoat how the locker room felt afterward.
“I think our team, you know, that was a pretty bad loss in L.A., and so we’re very motivated and kind of need to get the train rolling in the right direction,” Sophie Cunningham said.
Sophie Cunningham Returns To A Loaded Mercury Rematch With History Attached
Thursday’s game carries weight beyond the standings. It is the first meeting between Indiana and Phoenix since Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas hit Caitlin Clark with a pair of cheap shots on June 24. That game ended with Thomas suspended. Clark was sidelined afterward with a back injury of her own.
Clark returned to action Wednesday against the Sparks but will sit out Thursday as the Fever manage the back-to-back, with a return expected Sunday against the Las Vegas Aces. Aliyah Boston, who missed Wednesday’s game with a leg injury, is set to be back in the lineup.
There is also the matter of Sophie Cunningham and Mercury guard DeWanna Bonner. Their June 22 pointing standoff turned into one of the season’s most replayed moments. Sophie Cunningham later admitted she kept the gesture going for more than 20 seconds specifically because it bothered Bonner. She called it “the stupidest thing” she has ever done, while also owning that she could not help herself.
None of that history changes what Indiana needs on Thursday. A back-to-back on the road, a missing superstar, and a locker room still stinging from a blowout loss make this a game about response, not storylines. Cunningham has already shown she plans to play through whatever her body throws at her. Now the Fever need the rest of the roster to follow that same lead.
