LAS VEGAS — The Las Vegas Aces said they spent about 90 percent of practice Saturday focused on defense, knowing what offensive firepower awaited them in the Indiana Fever.
It still wasn’t enough. Indiana dominated the No. 2 seed, shooting 50 percent from the field in an 89-73 win, its second consecutive road victory of the WNBA playoffs.
The Fever took a 1-0 lead in the WNBA semifinals and now have home-court advantage in the series.
“We wanted to come in and be the aggressor right away,” Indiana coach Stephanie White said. “To come in here and to be able to steal this one was big for us.”
Aces superstar A’ja Wilson celebrated her fourth MVP Award in a pregame ceremony, but it was fellow MVP finalist Kelsey Mitchell who stole the show. In her first appearance at this stage of the playoffs in her eight-year career, Mitchell scored a game-high 34 points, more than doubling Wilson’s individual total. Mitchell’s speed was a decisive factor. She was quick to hunt her shot in transition, she flew off of screens and handoffs in the half court, and she got downhill in a hurry.
Mitchell’s first make, a 3-pointer from the right wing, forced an immediate timeout from Las Vegas.
“You can start on the defensive end. Clearly, we had no answer for Mitchell, couldn’t even attempt to slow her down a little bit,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said.
Mitchell’s backcourt partner, Odyssey Sims, was equally insistent at getting into the lane, living in the paint for 17 points. The pair had 11 points each in the third quarter, extending a 5-point halftime lead to 14. The duo also combined for five steals, and the Fever won the transition points battle 15-9.
Hammon highlighted the Aces’ magic number of 73, the total to which they try to hold opposing teams. Indiana cleared that mark with nine minutes to play, a clear indicator of how much defensive improvement Las Vegas will have to make.
The Fever were more prolific in the paint (50-38), on the break, at the free-throw line (16-10) and on second chances (10-9). The lone Aces advantage came off of turnovers; a sequence of live-ball turnovers for Indiana allowed Las Vegas to cut the deficit to 3 in the third quarter, but Mitchell responded with a stepback jumper on the other end.
That sparked a 13-0 run for the Fever as they cruised to victory.
That run also coincided with Wilson heading to the bench with four fouls. The Aces were unable to support their MVP on an off day, when she shot 6-of-22 from the field.
Wilson has never missed so many shots in a playoff game before, but her presence was still imperative to Las Vegas’ game plan, and her absence contributed to the game getting away.
The Aces have been in this situation before, losing Game 1 on their home court in the semifinals. Three years ago, they won the next three against the Seattle Storm and ended the season with the franchise’s first title. Indiana is going through this for the first time together.
“It’s one game in a long series,” White said. “But if we continue to keep the main thing the main thing, we know we can do what we’re capable of doing.”
Lynx find another X-factor
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota-Mercury semifinal series is crackling with star power and juicy matchups. Napheesa Collier, Courtney Williams and Kayla McBride for Minnesota. Alyssa Thomas, Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper for Phoenix.
After Minnesota took advantage of homecourt with an 82-69 Game 1 victory, the Lynx couldn’t stop talking about Maria Kliundikova, who averaged just 11 minutes per game in the regular season and didn’t play at all in the first round against Golden State. Kliundikova came off the bench in the second half against the Mercury and was a plus-14 in just eight minutes of action.
“We just got to the point where we felt like we needed something different and (Kliundikova) rose to the occasion for us,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Her eight minutes were the best eight minutes of the game. So credit to (her) for being ready and being big.”
The Mercury torched the Lynx in the paint in the first three quarters. An incredible 52 of their 59 points were scored there, helping them overcome dreadful 3-point shooting — Phoenix was 3 of 23 from deep — to put themselves in position to steal Game 1. Reeve countered with 6-foot-4 Kliundikova, who played well enough in her first stint to earn her closing minutes.
When the Lynx didn’t secure a defensive rebound with just more than four minutes to play, Reeve pulled co-Defensive Player of the Year Alanna Smith and inserted Kliundikova, a gutsy move as they held a three-point lead. She responded by getting an offensive rebound on her first possession that led to a 3 from McBride. She also won a jump ball, got a steal and converted a layup down the stretch to help the Lynx pull away.
The Mercury managed just 10 points in the fourth quarter, and scored only two in the paint, in large part to Kliundikova’s size and activity.
“When you’re sitting most of the game and you gotta come in and make that instant impact, you just gotta be mentally strong,” said Williams, who led the way with 23 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals. “That’s exactly what she is. She came in and did her thing.”
(Photo of Aliyah Boston: Paras Griffin / Getty Images)