Dominating defense pushes Fever past Aces for third straight win without Caitlin Clark
Back home for the start of a five-game homestand and playing without Caitlin Clark for a fourth consecutive game, the Fever scored the first six points of regulation and ran their advantage to as many as 10 through the opening 10 minutes. When the Aces found their footing and made it a two-score game early in the second, Indiana retaliated with an 8-0 run to regain control en route to an 81-54 win.
Indiana improves to 9-8. Vegas drops to 8-9. It's the Fever's first win over the Aces since Aug. 27, 2019, and is the second time A'ja Wilson has lost to the Fever in her career (21-2).
Here are three things we learned.
The Fever unlocked a new level to their defense in the second quarter of Tuesday's win at Minnesota. They maintained that momentum back home Thursday night, limiting the Aces to 16 for 61 shooting.
Of the Aces' 54 points, 29 came from reigning MVP Wilson, who was one of only two Vegas players with multiple field goals and accounted for nine of their 16 buckets.
Indiana forced a few shot clock violations through the opening 10 minutes, then began finding success with its full-court press in the second half, converting 17 turnovers to 19 points for the game.
A moment that stands out from late in the third quarter: Sophie Cunningham stole an inbound pass and laid it in, pushing the lead to 20 and whipping the crowd into a frenzy. And as soon as the ball dropped through, she was back in position, ready to apply pressure along the baseline with Lexie Hull before Vegas called timeout.
The Fever are really tough to beat when they defend like that.
Kelsey Mitchell continued to bolster her case for a WNBA All-Star spot with another strong performance: 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting with three triples, six assists, only two turnovers and two steals.
Mitchell, who scored seven of the Fever's nine points over a 90-second stretch in the first, dropped 10 points in the third quarter, including a stretch where she accounted for nine of the team's 14 points and tacked on an assist to push the lead to 20 late in the frame.
Mitchell is averaging 25.8 points over her last four games and ranked eighth in the league at 19 ppg entering Thursday's game.
The final 12 All-Star selections — three guards, five frontcourt players and four players of any position — will be announced next week and with how she's been playing recently, Mitchell's got a real strong case.
The Fever were doubling up the Aces on points in the paint for long stretches of that game and finished with a 38-20 advantage. Aliyah Boston did most of the heavy lifting, pouring in 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting with seven rebounds and a couple assists.
Boston is averaging 20 points over her last six games.
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New York Times
22 minutes ago
- New York Times
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(Top image: Panini America)
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