Las Vegas Aces vs Indiana Fever - WNBA Playoffs - Round 1 - Game 3 - 2026 | Fever Breaks

Game Summary: Las Vegas Aces vs Indiana Fever

First Quarter

Indiana came out firing. Mitchell hit a 26-footer on the first possession, Caitlin Clark answered a Wilson turnaround with a three of her own, and the Fever were up 12-4 less than three minutes in. Gray and Wilson each hit step-backs to stop the run, and then it got chippy: Clark and Brianna Turner were hit with a double technical at 6:54 after a tangle.

Jewell Loyd buried a three off a Young feed, but Clark kept cooking. She hit from 29 feet at 6:06 and swatted a Loyd drive on the next trip. Indiana led 22-17 after a Makayla Timpson layup at 3:39.

That is when A’ja Wilson took over. She drilled a 24-foot three off a Gray assist, then scored a running layup through contact and finished the three-point play at 2:58 to give Las Vegas its first lead, 23-22. The lead changed hands four more times. Cheyenne Parker-Tyus tipped one in and scored on a Wilson dish, Young hit from 25 feet, and Gray’s driving layup with 27.7 seconds left made it 31-29. Sophie Cunningham picked off a Parker-Tyus pass and hit a 13-footer with 1.5 seconds left to tie it at 31.

The Aces shot 12 of 18 in the quarter, and Indiana shot 13 of 24. Wilson had 14, and Clark had 11. Neither defense showed up for the first ten minutes.

Second Quarter

The second quarter was a grind. The teams combined to miss the first four shots, and Stephanie White picked up a technical at 8:52 that Chelsea Gray turned into a free throw. Nobody led by more than four through the first six minutes. Gray’s 15-foot pull-up made it 37-34 and forced an Indiana timeout, and Myisha Hines-Allen answered by owning the paint: four layups in about two minutes, the last a running layup off a Cunningham feed at 3:54 that tied it 42-42 and sent Becky Hammon to a timeout.

In my opinion, what came out of that timeout won the game. Wilson hit a 10-footer off a Young assist at 3:37 for a 44-42 lead, and Las Vegas never trailed again. A’ja Wilson added a running 10-footer and two free throws to finish a 6-0 spurt; Jackie Young drilled a 25-foot three at 1:06, and the 9-1 run had the Aces up 51-43.

Indiana made five free throws in the final minute to stay in it, but Loyd hit a 23-footer off a Young pass with 11.4 seconds left, and the Aces went to the locker room up 54-48. They shot 6 of 16 in the quarter and still won it 23-17, because the Fever went 5 of 18 and 0 of 4 from deep. Loyd and Hines-Allen had 8 apiece, and Wilson went into the half with 21.

Third Quarter

Young opened the second half with a 12-foot fadeaway, and Wilson followed with a 17-foot pull-up off a Jewell Loyd feed for a 58-48 lead. Mitchell answered with a step-back three, but the Aces kept coming. Wilson hit a turnaround off a Young assist and a 26-foot three off another Jackie Young dish at 6:48, and Indiana burned a timeout down 63-53.

The Fever won a coach’s challenge at 5:13 that wiped out a whistle and gave A’ja Wilson an offensive foul instead, but it did not change the momentum. Loyd picked off a Caitlin Clark pass, and Gray buried a 25-footer off a Young assist for a 67-55 lead at 4:32, the Aces’ biggest of the night. That capped a 13-7 run out of the break.

Then the shots stopped falling. Boston hit a 22-foot three, Hines-Allen scored a jumper and made two free throws, and Clark got loose for a running layup. Las Vegas went more than four minutes between field goals until Gray’s 12-foot fadeaway with 15.5 seconds left. Indiana’s 10-3 run cut it to 70-65 after three.

The Aces shot 6 of 19 and 2 of 8 from three in the quarter. Wilson had 8 of their 16 points, and Young had 3 assists in the first six minutes alone. No Fever player scored more than 5.

Fourth Quarter

Cunningham opened the scoring with a 27-foot three off a Lexie Hull assist, and it was 70-68 with 8:50 left. Then the Big 3 went to work. Young scored on a layup off a Chelsea Gray feed, Wilson scored inside, Gray converted a three-point play at 7:02, and Jackie Young made two free throws. Wilson’s free throw at 6:10 finished a 10-2 run for an 80-70 lead. Las Vegas did not miss a field goal or turn it over during the run.

Indiana would not go quietly. Boston hit a 26-foot three, and Mitchell made two free throws, scored off a Monique Billings steal, and then hit a 25-foot step-back three at 3:00. That 10-2 push made it 82-80.

This is where Gray earned her money. Kelsey Mitchell lost the ball on a drive and was called for a loose-ball foul; Indiana challenged, lost, and burned its last timeout. Gray made both free throws, then hit a 16-foot pull-up at 1:25 for an 86-80 lead. Clark’s 7-footer six seconds later was Indiana’s final field goal of the season.

A’ja Wilson went 2 for 2 at 46.8 seconds after a Mitchell turnover, and with the Fever out of timeouts and fouling, Chelsea Gray, Young and Wilson closed it 6 of 6 at the line. Gray scored 11 in the quarter on 3 of 4 from the floor and 5 of 5 at the line.

Bottom Line

The bottom line: Las Vegas fixed exactly what broke in Game 2. Indiana scored 58 in the paint on Tuesday. On Thursday, it scored 36, and the Fever’s top three of Clark, Mitchell and Boston shot a combined 21 of 57. Caitlin Clark finished with 18 points, 4 assists and 6 turnovers on 3 of 12 from three. The Aces also lived at the line, going 28 of 35 to Indiana’s 14 of 20, and the Big 3 of Wilson, Gray and Young combined for 77 of the 94 points.

Wilson piled up history while she was at it. It was her 28th career playoff double-double, alone at No. 2 all-time behind Alyssa Thomas‘s 31, her league-leading 12th 30-point playoff game and her 37th straight double-figure playoff game. Gray sits at 409 career playoff assists, one behind Thomas for the all-time lead, and her three-point total tied Sue Bird at No. 4 on the playoff three-point list. Young passed Tamika Catchings for No. 9 in playoff assists, and Loyd tied Sabrina Ionescu and Katie Smith at No. 15 on the playoff three-point list. The Aces did all of it without Dana Evans (right knee) and Stephanie Talbot (left knee).

Now it is the semifinals, and the Aces have won three of the last four titles. Follow every game on the FSM Las Vegas Aces hub, and look back at how the series opened with the Aces’ 102-85 Game 1 win.

Post-Game

A’ja Wilson said she had to put the Game 2 fan incident behind her: “I have my moments because I’m human. But after a while, I understood I didn’t want that to be a distraction to myself and my team, and I knew what we had to do coming into tonight. So I put it behind me. I prayed a lot. I cried a lot.”

“Once I put that on the back burner, I had to come up. I had to show up for my team today, and I’m glad we got the win,” Wilson said.

Hammon on Talbot, who missed the game with a left knee injury: “She was a game-time decision. I just told her, ‘You’ve got to do what’s best for your body.’ Her assignment in this particular game is such a huge one if she’s not at 100%, I need to see somebody at 100%. I know she was heartbroken she couldn’t get out there and physically get it done.”

Clark tipped her cap: “You’ve got to give credit to the Aces. I thought they played well. I thought they were ready to go, and that’s what championship teams do.” (Quotes via the Associated Press and ESPN.)

TOP PERFORMERS

TEAM STATS

Points in the Paint: LVA 22, IND 36 | Second Chance: LVA 12, IND 2 | Fast Break: LVA 6, IND 11 | Off Turnovers: LVA 14, IND 14 | Bench: LVA 6, IND 19

Next up: WNBA Semifinals Game 1, Sunday, Oct. 4, against the winner of Friday’s Golden State Valkyries vs Dallas Wings Game 3. Valkyries win: Games 1 and 2 in San Francisco. Wings win: Games 1 and 2 at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Game 2 is Oct. 7; Game 3 is Oct. 9. Tip times and TV to be announced.

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— TQ (@tqthetrojan) for Franchise Sports Media

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