The Las Vegas Aces will open their title defense against the Indiana Fever after finishing the regular season with a 100-82 victory over Phoenix. A’ja Wilson led the Aces with 34 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Jewell Loyd scored 25 off the bench and Jackie Young added 11 assists. Indiana enters as the No. 6 seed after falling 86-66 to Minnesota in its finale, with Kelsey Mitchell scoring 10 points and Caitlin Clark held to two.
Las Vegas finished 31-13 and enters the postseason as the No. 3 seed. Wilson averaged 26.1 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists during the regular season, while Young averaged 19.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists. Indiana’s Mitchell led the Fever at 25.0 points per game, with Clark at 22.8 and Aliyah Boston at 16.4.
The Fever struggled early in the regular-season finale, falling behind 32-13 after the opening quarter and 62-32 at halftime. Clark finished 1-for-12 from the field, while Minnesota’s defense held Indiana to 66 points. The Fever will have several days to reset before beginning a best-of-three series against the defending champions.
Game 1 is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 27, with Las Vegas hosting Indiana. The WNBA’s official postseason schedule places one first-round Game 1 in the 9 p.m. ET USA Network window, although the league’s matchup-specific listing should be used for the final broadcast confirmation.
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