Aces Eliminate Fever 94-83 as Wilson Powers Game 3

Bleacher Report and Yahoo Sports say A'ja Wilson's 36-point, 10-rebound night ended Indiana's season with a 94-83 Game 3 win in Las Vegas.

Bleacher Report reports that the Las Vegas Aces closed out their first-round series Thursday night with a 94-83 home win over the No. 6 seed Indiana Fever in Game 3, eliminating the defending-contender Fever from the WNBA playoffs. A'ja Wilson led the way with 36 points on 11-of-18 shooting plus 10 rebounds, while Chelsea Gray added 23 points and Jackie Young scored 18. The Aces, 4.5-point favorites per FanDuel Sportsbook as cited by Bleacher Report, had four players in double figures.

Yahoo Sports frames the elimination as a combination of poor shooting, disputed calls and Wilson's dominance — a reversal after Caitlin Clark's record-setting Game 2 performance. According to Yahoo Sports, Clark started hot, scoring 11 points in the first quarter on three of her first four shots, then went cold, finishing with 18 points on 6-of-17 shooting, 3-of-11 from three, six turnovers and just four assists.

Both Bleacher Report and Yahoo Sports agree on the core box scores: Wilson's 36 points and 10 rebounds, Kelsey Mitchell's 23 points on 7-of-23 shooting, and Aliyah Boston's 19-point, 10-rebound, two-block night for Indiana. The box-score tables published by Bleacher Report match the figures Yahoo Sports describes, giving the numbers two-source corroboration.

Yahoo Sports argues Wilson was the true story, constantly affecting shots even while recording just one block, and that Gray's 23 points showed the depth behind her. According to Yahoo Sports, Wilson, Gray and the Aces core have won three of the last four WNBA championships and now look headed toward another. Bleacher Report notes the game stayed tense until late: Indiana cut the lead to 82-80 on Kelsey Mitchell's personal 7-0 run capped by a stepback three with 3:00 left, but Las Vegas finished on a 12-3 run with ten of those points from the free-throw line.

Per Bleacher Report, Las Vegas advances to the best-of-five WNBA semifinals, where it will face the winner of the Golden State Valkyries versus Dallas Wings series — with Golden State hosting Dallas in Game 3 on Friday to determine the Aces' opponent. For Indiana, Yahoo Sports observes the Fever have now lost in the first round twice in the last three seasons, a frustrating ceiling for a roster built around Clark, Mitchell and Boston.