A'ja Wilson Drops 38 as Aces Roll Past Fever in Game 1
Aces 102, Fever 85. Wilson goes 15-for-19 and Las Vegas takes a 1-0 series lead.
A'ja Wilson scored 38 points with 16 rebounds and four blocks as Las Vegas beat Indiana 102-85 to open their first-round series. She made 15 of 19 shots, giving the Fever little margin for their 17 turnovers.
Wilson was nearly perfect. She made 15 of her 19 shots, both of her threes and 6 of 7 free throws in 35 minutes. According to the AP, the 38 points matched her career playoff high, and it came on the same day she was named AP WNBA Player of the Year for the third straight season.
The run that broke it open
Indiana kept the game close until late in the first half.
Then Las Vegas took over. Wilson scored back-to-back buckets, Jackie Young and Jewell Loyd got going, and the Aces ripped off a 13-2 run to go up 49-38. They kept pushing all the way to the break, outscoring Indiana 26-11 over the last 7:20 of the half to lead 62-47. Wilson had 22 points by halftime. Loyd's three with 23 seconds left in the half capped the stretch.
Indiana came within 12 early in the second half. Las Vegas later stretched the lead to 27 and entered the fourth ahead 86-65. The Fever won the final quarter 20-16, but never got the deficit below 15 during that quarter. Turnovers hurt Indiana all night: the Fever gave it away 17 times, and the AP reported Las Vegas turned those into 28 points.
Top performers
- A'ja Wilson, Aces: 38 points, 16 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals, 15-19 FG.
- Jackie Young, Aces: 21 points, 10 assists, 3 steals, 8-14 FG.
- Chelsea Gray, Aces: 14 points, 8 assists. Per the AP, she passed Courtney Vandersloot for second on the WNBA's all-time playoff assists list.
- Aliyah Boston, Fever: 18 points, 8 rebounds, 3-6 from three, playing through what the AP described as a lower leg injury.
- Caitlin Clark, Fever: 15 points, 10 assists, 6-17 FG, 3-10 from three, 6 turnovers.
- Raven Johnson, Fever: 14 points on 6-7 shooting off the bench.
- Kelsey Mitchell, Fever: 12 points on 4-16 shooting.
What they said
Aces coach Becky Hammon kept it simple: "She was a clinic tonight." Clark was blunt about Indiana's night. "I thought our actions were sloppy," she said, per the AP. Fever coach Stephanie White gave the Aces their due: "They're defending champions for a reason."
What's next
Las Vegas leads the series 1-0. Game 2 is Tuesday, September 29 at 6:30 p.m. ET at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Prime Video. A Fever win forces Game 3 back in Las Vegas. An Aces win ends Indiana's season.
Indiana needs cleaner possessions and more efficient scoring around Boston and Clark. Mitchell shot 4-of-16 in Game 1, while Wilson's 15-of-19 night set a difficult standard at the other end.
Box score: ESPN.
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How this story was made: Ryan Moalemi picked the story and the angle. Full Court Buckets gathers its own game data and verifies it against official box scores. AI tools drafted it from that data and the sources linked above so it could post the same night, then Ryan reviewed and edited it before publishing. How we make Full Court Buckets