The Las Vegas Aces beat the Indiana Fever on Thursday, Oct. 1, 94-83, eliminating them from the WNBA playoffs. A combination of poor shooting, controversial calls and A’ja Wilson came together to doom the Fever, who have now lost in the first round twice in the last three seasons.
Clark started strong on Thursday, hitting three of her first four shots and scoring 11 points in a high-scoring first quarter. Then she got cold. Clark finished with 18 points on 6-of-18 shooting. She only made 3-of-12 3-point attempts. She also had six turnovers and just four assists after a record-setting Game 2 performance.
The Fever never let it get out of hand, but they were unable to completely close the gap. Questionable officiating played a big part in that, particularly when Clark took an elbow to the face that nearly knocked her out of the game.
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While Clark’s failure will get most of the attention, Wilson was the true story of the game. She scored 36 points on 11-of-18 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds. While the four-time MVP only had one block, she constantly affected shots.
Among those affected were Clark and Kelsey Mitchell. Mitchell finished with 23 points on 7-of-23 shooting. Aliyah Boston was the only Fever star to have a decent game with 19 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Sophie Cunningham scored five points in 24 minutes off the bench.
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Meanwhile, Wilson got the support of Chelsea Gray, who played all 40 minutes and scored 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Gray, Wilson and the Aces have won three of the last four WNBA championships and look like they are on their way to another. Las Vegas will meet the winner of the Dallas Wings-Golden State Valkyries series in the WNBA semifinals.
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