The Indiana Fever saw their postseason end Thursday night in Las Vegas, falling 94-83 to the defending champion Aces in a decisive first-round game.
Las Vegas moved on after winning the best-of-three series 2-1. Indiana had forced the winner-take-all contest with a home victory two nights earlier, only to come up short on the road for the second straight year against the same opponent.
A’ja Wilson paced the Aces with 36 points and 10 rebounds. Chelsea Gray added 23 points, and Jackie Young contributed 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as Las Vegas controlled the tempo late.
Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 23 points. Aliyah Boston finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Caitlin Clark scored 18 points to go with four assists, four blocks and two steals.
Clark described the night in direct terms afterward.
“We were right there, and I feel like we played a ‘C’ game,” she said.
She and Mitchell combined to shoot 13 for 41 from the field. The pair also went a combined six for 23 from three-point range, well below the efficiency that had fueled one of the league’s most productive offenses during the regular season.
Indiana entered the series as the No. 6 seed after posting the WNBA’s highest scoring average at 96.0 points per game. The Aces, seeded third, limited that attack across the three games and advanced to the semifinals.
Clark’s Game 2 performance had kept the Fever alive. She recorded 27 points and 15 assists in the 99-89 home win, becoming the first player in WNBA history to post at least 25 points and 15 assists in a playoff game. She fouled out with under three minutes remaining but watched teammates close the victory.
In the regular season, Clark appeared in all 40 games and averaged 22.3 points, 8.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 44.5 percent from the field and 36.1 percent from three. Those marks represented career highs in scoring and field-goal percentage.
The elimination closed a long stretch of continuous basketball for the third-year guard.
“This is like obviously the most basketball I’ve played at any year of my career,” Clark said. “And to be completely honest with you, I didn’t take a break when our season ended last year. So I’ve been going for almost what a year and a half or whatever it is now because I had to prepare for USA Basketball in December and then March and getting ready for our season.
“The offseason coming into the season was probably one of the most fulfilling for myself of just how the work continues to show up and how you perform. And obviously, I didn’t play much last year, but I was able to come out here and put together the best season I’ve had and perform at a really high level and basically get better in every area. Still feel like I have so many areas to improve. So I guess that’s the most exciting part moving forward. I love the work. I love being in the gym. I’ll probably be kicked out for a little while, but we’ll get back to it.”
Clark played only 13 games in 2025 because of injury. Her return to a full schedule this year produced the statistical jump and helped Indiana reach the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
Wilson’s 36-point outing marked one of the higher scoring totals of the postseason so far. The Aces will next face the winner of the Golden State-Dallas first-round series.
Indiana’s frontcourt production remained steady even in defeat. Boston’s double-double gave the Fever a reliable interior presence, yet the perimeter shooting drought proved decisive in the final margin.
Clark’s four blocks stood out on a night when Indiana’s defense otherwise struggled to contain Las Vegas’s half-court sets. The Fever finished the game with fewer assists and more turnovers than their season norms.
Indiana’s focus now shifts to the offseason evaluation that Clark described as already underway in her own preparation.
