The Las Vegas Aces are the defending champions but had an extremely difficult time separating themselves from the pack during the WNBA regular season. They finished with the No. 3 seed — leapfrogged by the ascendant Valkyries and resurgent Lynx — and their point differential was fourth, also trailing the Atlanta Dream and essentially tied with the Indiana Fever who they'll face in the first round.
The Aces still have A'ja Wilson, the best player in the WNBA. But they don't have the same depth they've had in year's past and may need a Jewell Loyd to break out of her season-long slump to really have a shot at a deep playoff run.
The Fever took two of three regular season games from the Aces and did it without needing top notch performances from Caitlin Clark. She only played in two of the three games, and shot 38.7 percent from the field and 20 percent from beyond the arc. Instead, Indiana was carried by Kelsey Mitchell (27.3 points on 63.7 percent true shooting) Aliyah Boston (19.3 points on 66.3 percent true shooting, 11.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.7 blocks). If the Fever are going to upset the Aces they'll need top notch performances from their stars, and big contributions from their bench. The pieces are there but having both Clark and Boston listed in the injury report for Game 1 is worrisome.
Score
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Box score: Fever vs. Aces player stats and team stats
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