Wilson’s 38 Points Lead Aces Past Fever 102-85 in Game 1

A’ja Wilson scored 38 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, and the Las Vegas Aces defeated the Indiana Fever 102-85 in Game 1 of their best-of-three first-round series on Sunday afternoon at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Las Vegas leads the series 1-0.

Wilson matched her playoff career highs in both points and rebounds, shooting 15-of-19 from the field while adding four blocks, two steals and two assists. Jackie Young added 21 points and 10 assists, Chelsea Gray finished with 14 points and eight assists, and Jewell Loyd scored 10 points. Aliyah Boston led Indiana with 18 points and eight rebounds, and Caitlin Clark recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists as five Fever players reached double figures.

Indiana struck first when Makayla Timpson scored on a putback, but Las Vegas answered with the next six points on two Gray jumpers and a Wilson jumper. The two teams traded baskets from there. Clark hit a stepback three, Boston scored on a floater and Lexie Hull knocked down a three-pointer to tie the game at 12. Kelsey Mitchell then scored on back-to-back drives, the second a reverse layup off a Clark assist, to give the Fever a 16-14 lead.

The Aces responded with a 10-0 run. Gray made a free throw after a flagrant foul on Sophie Cunningham, Wilson scored on a driving layup, Loyd hit a three-pointer in transition and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus finished two layups to put Las Vegas ahead 24-16. Indiana closed the quarter with a push of its own. Cunningham buried back-to-back threes in transition, both off Clark assists, to cut the deficit to two before Wilson converted a three-point play. The Aces led 27-23 after one quarter, with Wilson scoring nine points in the period.

The second quarter opened as a back-and-forth battle. Raven Johnson finished a three-point play, Clark hit a three to tie the game at 31, and Boston banked in a three-pointer that gave the Fever a 34-33 lead with 7:47 left in the half. It was Indiana’s final lead of the afternoon. Gray answered at the free throw line 15 seconds later, and Las Vegas never trailed again.

Johnson tied the game once more at 36, but Wilson scored the next four points, including a putback, and the Aces began to pull away. Young hit a jumper, Loyd scored on a fast-break layup after a steal, Mai Yamamoto added a jumper for her first career playoff points and Young capped a 9-0 run with a three-pointer in transition that gave Las Vegas its first double-digit lead at 49-38. Indiana stayed within reach behind Clark, who scored on consecutive drives, and Mitchell, who converted a three-point play. But Wilson hit a three-pointer to make it 57-45, and Loyd’s three in the final 30 seconds sent the Aces into halftime with a 62-47 lead.

Las Vegas shot 72.2% in the second quarter and 64.9% in the first half. Wilson had 22 points at the break on 9-of-11 shooting. Indiana committed seven turnovers in the second quarter, and the Aces turned them into 16 points.

The Fever opened the third quarter by missing nine of their first 10 shots. Boston hit a three on the first Indiana possession, but Las Vegas answered with a Stephanie Talbot jumper, a Parker-Tyus three-pointer and four points from Young to build a 71-50 lead. Wilson took over from there. She scored on a putback and made the free throw, hit a three-pointer and knocked down a turnaround jumper to extend the lead to 79-55. Loyd finished an alley-oop from Wilson, and Young scored on a fast-break layup after a Parker-Tyus steal to give the Aces an 85-58 lead, their largest of the game at 27 points. Johnson scored seven points in the final 1:14 of the quarter, including a three-pointer, and Las Vegas led 86-65 entering the fourth.

Indiana opened the final period with threes from Boston and Mitchell to cut the deficit to 15, but the Fever never got closer. Wilson scored eight points in the quarter, and Young added two more fast-break layups as the Aces closed out the win. Indiana outscored Las Vegas 20-16 in the fourth quarter, with Monique Billings scoring four points.

Las Vegas shot 59.4% from the field and 9-of-19 from three-point range. Indiana shot 44.8% and made 12 of 31 three-point attempts. Both teams committed 17 turnovers, but the Aces scored 28 points off Indiana’s mistakes while the Fever scored 18. Indiana held a 36-34 edge in points in the paint and a 33-21 advantage in bench scoring. Johnson led the Fever reserves with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, and Cunningham added 13.

Wilson’s performance marked the fourth playoff game in WNBA history with at least 35 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks, and she is the only player to do it twice. Her 27th career playoff double-double tied Tamika Catchings and Candace Parker for second all-time, behind Alyssa Thomas. Gray became the 12th player in league postseason history to reach 900 playoff points and now has 911, and she moved past Courtney Vandersloot into second place on the all-time playoff assists list. Young recorded the third playoff double-double of her career.

Las Vegas played without Dana Evans, who is out with a right knee injury.

Game 2 is Tuesday, Sept. 29, in Indianapolis, with tipoff set for 3:30 p.m. on Prime. If necessary, Game 3 will be played Thursday, Oct. 1, at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, with tip time to be determined.