A'ja Wilson, Aces send the Fever home again with a 94-83 win in Game 3

A'ja Wilson made sure her basketball spoke for itself Thursday night.

The four-time WNBA MVP, who had a verbal encounter with a Fever fan in Indiana two nights earlier, scored 36 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the defending champion Las Vegas Aces to a 94-83 victory in the deciding Game 3 of the first round.

"I have my moments because I'm human," Wilson said. "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."

The third-seeded Aces, who have won three of the past four titles, moved on to play the winner of the Golden State-Dallas series, which will be decided Friday night in San Francisco.

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This is the second year in a row Las Vegas has ended the season for the Fever, who were seeded sixth. The teams met in the semifinals a year ago, with the Aces pulling out an overtime victory in the finale of the five-game series that Caitlin Clark missed because of injury.

"We've got to give credit to the Aces," Clark said. "I thought they played well. I thought they were ready to go. That's what championship teams do."

Wilson book ended this series with sensational performances in Games 1 and 3, making her sure verbal confrontation with a Fever fan wouldn't be the enduring memory. The league did not punish Wilson, who opened the series with 38 points and 16 rebounds, followed up in this game by scoring 21 points in the first half and making 11 of 18 shots overall.

Teammate Chelsea Gray added 23 points and Jackie Young had 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

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