For the third time in four seasons, the Las Vegas Aces are heading to the WNBA Finals. It took five grueling, back-and-forth games for the second-seeded Aces to advance past the Indiana Fever, but in a battle of attrition, Aces forward A’ja Wilson and guard Jackie Young had just enough to advance. They’ll face the Phoenix Mercury in the finals, which start Friday. Tuesday’s 107-98 overtime victory was not the Aces’ shining defensive performance. But in winner-take-all affairs, style points are i
It took five grueling, back-and-forth games for the second-seeded Aces to advance past the Indiana Fever, but in a battle of attrition, Aces forward A’ja Wilson and guard Jackie Young had just enough to advance. They’ll face the Phoenix Mercury in the finals, which start Friday.
Tuesday’s 107-98 overtime victory was not the Aces’ shining defensive performance. But in winner-take-all affairs, style points are irrelevant. What matters most is the final margin. And though an extra five minutes was needed for the Aces to end the night with an advantage, they did when 45 minutes were up and the game clock struck double zeros.
The Aces hit only one 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, but in overtime, they knocked down three triples. Each was significant.
The Fever consistently rallied — they never quit during a trying, injury-riddled season or Tuesday night — but Indiana played the final 27.1 seconds of regulation, plus overtime, without center Aliyah Boston, who had fouled out. Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell was also unavailable for much of the second half after she left the game and did not return from an injury with 5:05 to play in the third quarter.
Wilson finished the thriller with 35 points, eight rebounds, five assists, four steals and four blocks. There was little she didn’t do. Though Young missed a point-blank layup in the waning seconds of regulation, which would have sent Aces fans home minutes earlier, she finished the victory with 32 points and 10 assists on 10-of-20 shooting.
Guard Odyssey Sims led the Fever with 27 points as Indiana’s patchwork roster fought until the final buzzer. By the end of the night, Indiana had only five players available who were on its opening night roster. The Fever left the floor having nothing left to prove and nothing left to give.
But it is the Aces, now looking for their third title in four years, who are marching on. It wasn’t easy. But it was just enough.
This story will be updated.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Indiana Fever, Las Vegas Aces, Phoenix Mercury, WNBA
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Category: General Sports
