Aces vs. Fever Series Breakdown: A'ja Wilson Won the Matchup That Mattered
Updated October 9, 2026: The next-round note now records Golden State's semifinal berth, and the Talbot paragraph is labeled as the October 2 outlook.
Indiana had the ball, down 82-80, with 2:42 left in Game 3. Caitlin Clark had just jumped a Chelsea Gray pass. Kelsey Mitchell missed a floater, grabbed her own miss, lost it, and got called for a loose-ball foul. The Fever challenged. The call stood. Gray made both free throws, then hit a 16-foot pull-up at 1:25 to make it 86-80, and the Aces closed the game on a 12-3 run to win 94-83 and take the series 2-1. (ESPN play-by-play)
That was the series. One possession where Indiana could tie or lead, and it turned into four Vegas points. If you want the straight game story, our Game 3 recap has it. This piece is about how the whole thing swung across three games.
Clark vs. Wilson, game by game
Wilson's scoring and Clark's playmaking shaped the series in different ways. These are their three-game numbers.
| Game | Player | PTS | REB | AST | FG (FG%) | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1: LV 102-85 | Wilson | 38 | 16 | 2 | 15-19 (78.9%) | 3 |
| Game 1 | Clark | 15 | 3 | 10 | 6-17 (35.3%) | 6 |
| Game 2: IND 99-89 | Wilson | 22 | 9 | 2 | 5-11 (45.5%) | 4 |
| Game 2 | Clark | 27 | 7 | 15 | 9-18 (50.0%) | 5 |
| Game 3: LV 94-83 | Wilson | 36 | 10 | 1 | 11-18 (61.1%) | 1 |
| Game 3 | Clark | 18 | 2 | 4 | 6-18 (33.3%) | 6 |
| Series | Wilson | 96 | 35 | 5 | 31-48 (64.6%) | 8 |
| Series | Clark | 60 | 12 | 29 | 21-53 (39.6%) | 17 |
Sources: Game 1 box, Game 2 box, Game 3 box.
A'ja Wilson averaged 32 points on 64.6% shooting and turned it over eight times in three games. That is absurd. The one game she was merely good, Game 2, was the one Vegas lost, and even then she got 12 of her 22 at the free throw line.
Clark's Game 2 was the best single performance by anyone not named Wilson: 27 points and 15 assists, and Indiana won by 10. But look at the other two nights. Six turnovers in each, 12 of 35 from the field combined. In Game 3 she had 11 points in the first quarter and seven the rest of the way, per the AP recap. The 29 assists over three games are real. So are the 17 turnovers.
Wilson was the most consistent scorer in the series: 96 points on 31-of-48 shooting. Indiana's win came when it held her to five field goals and Clark produced 27 points with 15 assists.
The runs that decided Game 3
Game 3 was a series of punches. Indiana opened on a 10-2 run and led by eight at 7:50 of the first quarter. Vegas tied it, took the lead for good with a 9-1 burst late in the second, and stretched it to 67-55 at 4:32 of the third. Then the Aces went cold, making one field goal the rest of the quarter, and Indiana cut it to five. The Fever got within two twice in the fourth, at 70-68 and 82-80. Both times Vegas answered. (ESPN play-by-play)
| # | Run | Team | Start | End |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10-2 | Indiana | Q1 10:00, Fever 0, Aces 0 | Q1 7:50, Fever 10, Aces 2 |
| 2 | 9-1 | Las Vegas | Q2 3:54, 42-42 | Q2 1:06, Fever 43, Aces 51 |
| 3 | 13-7 | Las Vegas | Q3 10:00, Fever 48, Aces 54 | Q3 4:32, Fever 55, Aces 67 |
| 4 | 10-3 | Indiana | Q3 4:32, Fever 55, Aces 67 | Q3 0:05.6, Fever 65, Aces 70 |
| 5 | 10-2 | Las Vegas | Q4 8:50, Fever 68, Aces 70 | Q4 6:10, Fever 70, Aces 80 |
| 6 | 10-2 | Indiana | Q4 6:10, Fever 70, Aces 80 | Q4 3:00, Fever 80, Aces 82 |
| 7 | 12-3 | Las Vegas | Q4 3:00, Fever 80, Aces 82 | Final, Fever 83, Aces 94 |
That last Indiana push was mostly Mitchell. She scored seven of the 10 points, including a step-back three at 3:00. She also finished 7 of 23 from the field, and the 2:15 sequence is the one Fever fans will replay all winter.
Gray was the closer. She scored six of the Aces' final 12 points: two free throws, the pull-up, and two more free throws at 0:26. She played all 40 minutes and finished with 23. Jackie Young also went the full 40 for 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. (ESPN box)
Paint points and rebounds: Indiana won the fight and lost the series
This is the part that surprised me. Indiana won the paint in all three games.
| Game | Paint LV | Paint IND | Reb LV | Reb IND | Off. Reb LV | Off. Reb IND |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G1 | 34 | 36 | 31 | 24 | 5 | 8 |
| G2 | 26 | 58 | 30 | 34 | 7 | 11 |
| G3 | 22 | 36 | 34 | 38 | 2 | 9 |
Game 2 was Indiana at its best: 58 paint points to 26, plus a 34-30 edge on the glass. Aliyah Boston and the Fever bigs just lived at the rim. In Game 1, Vegas won the boards 31-24 and Wilson grabbed 16 by herself.
Game 3 is the weird one. Indiana won the paint 36-22, won the boards 38-34 and had nine offensive rebounds to two. Boston had 19 and 10, and Myisha Hines-Allen added 12 and 12. Those advantages gave Indiana a route to a win, but they did not cover the gaps at the free-throw line and from three.
They didn't, for two reasons. Free throws: Vegas went 28 of 35, Indiana 14 of 20. That's a 14-point gap at the line in an 11-point game. And the jump shots: Indiana shot 9 of 32 from three while Vegas went 8 of 20. (ESPN box)
Indiana scored more in the paint in all three games. Las Vegas won the series with Wilson's efficiency and a decisive free-throw advantage in Game 3.
What's next
Update: Golden State beat Dallas 77-73 on October 2 to advance to the semifinals against Las Vegas. Our Valkyries-Wings Game 3 recap covers the closeout.
Outlook at publication, October 2. The thing I'm watching is Stephanie Talbot. She missed Game 3, and Becky Hammon said she didn't know her status going forward (AP). Gray and Young each played 40 minutes in this one. That workload makes rotation depth an important question in a longer series. If Talbot is back, I like Vegas against either team. If she isn't, whoever comes out of Friday has a real shot.
For Indiana, it's the second straight year Las Vegas ended its season. Clark and Boston are good enough to win a series like this. The next step is not giving away the possessions that decide it.
Related: Bloody Teeth, No Whistle.
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Source: Box score and play-by-play
How this story was made: drafted with AI tools from the sources linked above, then reviewed and edited by Ryan Moalemi. How we make Full Court Buckets