Aces fall flat in Game 1; lacked 'urgency' vs. surging Fever - ESPN

LAS VEGAS — On a day that started in celebration as superstar A'ja Wilson was awarded her fourth WNBA MVP trophy, the Indiana Fever sent Las Vegas Aces fans heading for the exits before the final buzzer.

The No. 6 seed Fever took down the No. 2 seed Aces 89-73 in Game 1 of their best-of-five semifinal series, handing the two-time champs just their second loss in the last 20 games and stealing a coveted win on Las Vegas' home floor.

Indiana closed as 8.5-point underdogs at ESPN Bet, making Sunday's outcome tied for the largest playoff spread upset in the WNBA semifinals or later since 2017.

The Aces' 16-point deficit Sunday was their largest in any game since their 53-point loss to the Lynx on Aug. 2, the game that preceded their franchise-record 17-game win streak.

It was also the team's largest home playoff loss since Game 2 of the 2021 WNBA semifinals and largest loss in any playoff game since Game 3 of the 2022 WNBA Finals.

«They played with a greater sense of urgency,» Aces coach Becky Hammon said. «We couldn't catch up with their pace.»

The Fever were led by their own MVP candidate in Kelsey Mitchell. The star guard tallied 34 points, the most in a WNBA semifinals debut in league history and the second-most in a playoff game in Fever history.

«Clearly we had no answer for Mitchell,» Hammon said. «She made every freaking shot, it seemed like… she had a hot night and we let her get going.»

Indiana mostly controlled the game beginning in the first quarter, thriving off pushing the pace and beating the Aces back in transition. While Mitchell was the head of the snake, the Fever also got big contributions from Odyssey Sims (17 points) and Natasha Howard (12 points, 11 rebounds), ultimately shooting 50% from the field