Five of the seven blocks came before halftime. That is the first fact worth keeping from Awak Kuier's night, and it is why the Defensive Player of the Night file opens in the first half, not at the final 91-85. The Associated Press said those five rejections tied the career high Kuier set as a 20-year-old rookie in 2021.
She then added two more after the break. ESPN's box score has her at seven blocks in 36 minutes, with 11 points, eight rebounds, four assists, one steal, and zero turnovers on 4-for-8 shooting and 2-for-6 from three. Dallas as a team blocked eight shots.
She had seven of them.
The names on the other end
The AP listed the players she turned away: Kelsey Mitchell, Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Makayla Timpson. Those are the four names the AP put on the block list: Indiana's leading scorer, its lead guard, and two frontcourt starters. A block list that runs through that group is not garbage-time swatting.
It is a rim-protection night against the possessions that decide a game. Mitchell still scored 37, the AP reported, including 21 before halftime. Kuier's five first-half blocks did not freeze that heater.
They did change the ones that died at the rim. Boston went 5-for-11 for 14 points and nine rebounds in 29 minutes on ESPN's board. Timpson had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Some of those misses were long jumpers. Some, per the AP's block list, were shots Kuier got a hand on. Seven blocks in a league that does not log that number often is a defensive usage stat.
She played 36 minutes, longest among the Wings, and she did not pick up a turnover. The defensive possession and the offensive possession stayed clean on the same card.
What the other 11 points did
This is not a zero-point shot-blocker night. Kuier went 4-for-8 and 2-for-6 from three.
Two made threes from a player who also blocked seven shots stretch a Fever defense that already had to deal with Ogunbowale's 32 and Shepard's 26. ESPN's play-by-play has her finishing at the rim on Bueckers assists and knocking down a 23-footer and a 27-footer. The 27-footer is the shot that forces a help defender to step out.
The seven blocks are what happen when that defender is late getting back. Four assists and zero turnovers are the quiet half of the Defensive Player of the Night case. A player who logs 36 minutes, seven blocks, and no giveaways is not gambling for highlights.
