GAME PREVIEW: Aces Face Indiana Sunday in Semifinals for First-Ever Playoff Tilt Between the Two Clubs

Sat, Sep 20, 2025, 11:25 PM

LAS VEGAS (Sept. 20, 2025) — The No. 2 Las Vegas Aces are set to host No. 6 Indiana Fever in Game 1 of the 2025 WNBA Semifinals on Sunday, Sept. 21, at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Tipoff for the first game in the best-of-five series is slated for 12 p.m. PT and will air nationally on ABC.

PLAYOFF PICTURE: The Aces eliminated the Seattle Storm for the second year in a row on in Game 3 Thursday night, setting the stage for an Aces vs Fever semifinals clash. The Fever upset No. 2 seed Atlanta in three games to advance into the semis.

On the other side of the bracket, No. 4 Phoenix downed reigning champs and No. 5 New York in three games and will face No. 1 Minnesota, which knocked out Golden State in two games, the only series that finished in a sweep. The Lynx will host the Mercury in Sunday’s second semifinal game at 2 p.m. PT on ESPN.

 

UPCOMING PLAYOFF MILESTONES:

 

UPCOMING PLAYER PLAYOFF CAREER MILESTONES:

1st Points: Aaliyah Nye
50 Steals: Young (43 +7)
50 Steals: Wilson (48 + 2)
50 Rebounds: Cheyenne Parker-Tyus (48 + 2)
100 Blocks: Wilson (99 + 1)
200 Rebounds: Young (187 + 13)
200 Rebounds: Gray (179 +21)
800 Points: Gray (787 + 13)

Aces vs. Fever: The Aces are 1-2 this season against the Fever, two of which were played in Indianapolis. Las Vegas won the first tilt 89-81 at home on June 22, before falling 81-54 on July 3 and 80-70 July 24.

The Aces averaged 71.0 points on 37.7% field goal shooting, 31.3 rebounds and 14.3 assists over the 3 games, far lower than their season averages of 83.6 ppg on 43.9% from the field, 33.5 rpg and 19.6 apg.

Indiana averaged 80.7 ppg on 35.5% from the field, 43.7 rpg and 21.3 apg against the Aces this year, compared to 84.9 ppg on 45.6% shooting, 33.4 rpg and 20.6 apg over the course of the season.

LAS VEGAS ACES: 2025 WNBA M’VP finalist Wilson averaged 24.3 ppg on 42.9% shooting, 5.3 rpg and 1.3 bpg against Indiana this season; Young tallied 14.7 ppg and 3.7 apg, and Gray posted 9.7 ppg and 3.0 apg.

Against Seattle in the quarterfinals, Wilson averaged 29.3 ppg on 55.4% shooting from the floor, 8.7 rpg, 2.3 spg and 2.0 bpg and Young averaged 19.0 ppg on 52.6% shooting to go along with 4.0 apg over the 3 games.

Gray has upped her assists since the start of postseason play, averaging 7.7 apg compared to her 5.4 in the regular season.

NaLyssa Smith, who was drafted by Indiana in 2022, made her Aces debut against the Fever on July 3 and has since averaged 8.2 ppg on 55.6% field goal shooting and 5.3 rpg.

 

Aces Offense in Regular Season vs. Playoffs

PPG
FG%
3FG%
FGM
PITP
OFFRTG

Reg. Season
83.6
43.9%
35.1%
29.7
31.9
105.9

Round 1
86.3
48.9
40.0%
30.7
36.0
111.6

 

INDIANA FEVER: The Fever will be making its first semifinals appearance in 10 years after reaching the Finals in 2015. It clinched a playoff spot on Sept. 7 with a win at Washington and closed the season by winning 7 of their last 10 games. Indiana upset No. 2 seed Atlanta in the opening round, winning games 2 and 3, including game 3 on the road, to reach the semifinals.

They are led by 2025 WNBA MVP finalist Kelsey Mitchell, who averaged career-bests in scoring (20.2 ppg) and assists (3.4 apg), and upped her scoring to 23.3 ppg in the quarterfinals. Aliyah Boston (15 ppg) and Natasha Howard (11.4 ppg) made up the bulk of the scoring in the backcourt for the Fever this season. In their series against Atlanta, however, averaged 12.3 and 9.7 ppg, respectively. Odyssey Sims, who played 12 games at the end of the season, equaled her Fever season average with 10.3 ppg in the first round.

The Fever’s defense catapulted them to the two wins to advance, including holding the Dream to only 60 points in Game 2 and forcing an average of 13 turnovers over the 3 games. They also limited Atlanta to 28.1% (18-64 3FGs) in the series and are currently second among playoff teams in defensive rating behind Phoenix’s 84.6.

 

Fever Opponent Regular Season Stats vs. Playoffs

OPP. PPG
OPP. FG%
OPP. 3FG%
OPP. PTS OFF TOs
DEFRTG

Reg. Season
81.5
44.9%
32.9%
14.5
101.8

Round 1
75.0
42.4%
28.1%
10.7
93.4

 

The Fever will be without 2024 Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark, who was limited to 13 games this season due to injury, and averaged 16.5 ppg. Sophie Cunningham (8.6 ppg), Aari McDonald (9.8 ppg), Chloe Bibby (3.9 ppg) and Sydney Colson (2.4 ppg) all suffered season-ending injuries and also will not be available.

UP NEXT: The Aces will play Game 2 of the WNBA Semifinals on Tuesday, Sept. 24, at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Tipoff is 6:30 p.m. PT. Tickets are on sale now for Games 1, 3 and 5 (if necessary) on AXS.com.