Well, now they have. The Fever and Aces battled in Game 1 on Sunday in Las Vegas, and Indiana dominated over the 2022 and 2023 WNBA champs. The visitors scored more points in every quarter, imposed their style, and relied on their stars on both ends en route to an 89-73 win.<\/p>\n
So, the Indiana Fever have seen the real Aces now. And in their first meeting against MVP A\u2019ja Wilson<\/a> and company at their new, much-higher level, the Fever were the better team for essentially all 40 minutes of action.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to come in and be the aggressor right away to make sure that we were dictating on the defensive end and we were dictating from a pace standpoint. They\u2019re champions for a reason,\u201d Fever head coach Stephanie White<\/a> said postgame. \u201cWe knew that they were going to make runs. They made a big one in the third, and we responded with a big one. I\u2019m proud of our team.\u201d<\/p>\n Sign up in September and check out The Ice Garden for free!<\/p>\n In case you missed it, The Ice Garden<\/a> is now part of The IX Sports family!<\/p>\n The staff of The Ice Garden has paved the way for women\u2019s hockey coverage from the college ranks to international competitions. Of course, that includes in-depth coverage of the PWHL too.<\/p>\n If you love Hockey Friday, sign up in September to sample all the incredible work of The Ice Garden.<\/p>\n While it\u2019s true that Indiana hadn\u2019t seen what Hammon called the \u201creal Aces\u201d yet, this game showed that Vegas also hadn\u2019t seen the \u201creal Fever,\u201d or at least the version of the team that has existed for about the last month or so. Shey Peddy<\/a> signed a hardship deal with the Fever on August 19, then Aerial Powers<\/a> did the same four days later. That was basically one month ago. Since the Fever and Aces last met in the regular season, Indiana lost Sophie Cunningham<\/a>, Aari McDonald<\/a>, Chloe Bibby<\/a>, and Sydney Colson<\/a> to season-ending injuries \u2014 and they announced Caitlin Clark<\/a> as out for the rest of the campaign earlier this month.<\/p>\n The current Fever are an entirely different bunch than the squad that the Aces last saw. They ranked fourth in offense<\/a> from the time they signed Powers, their final hardship addition who plays rotation minutes, to the end of the season and have found the perfect tempo for their team. When they were working in a group of new guards, their pace was slower. But now that the current roster has settled in, the Fever are a blur \u2014 they top the WNBA in postseason pace<\/a> and were rising in that category to close the regular season.<\/p>\n Their end-to-end speed, made possible by Odyssey Sims<\/a> and Kelsey Mitchell<\/a>, let Indiana run around, though, over, whatever direction past the Aces. They raced down the floor after made shots and were disciplined in transition. That, combined with connected defense \u2014 particularly against Wilson \u2014 and excellent poise helped the Fever keep the Aces away. That\u2019s what the real Fever can be at their best right now.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter who\u2019s on the floor. It doesn\u2019t matter who\u2019s on our roster. They give each other the freedom to be themselves. They empower one another to be themselves and to be the best version of themselves,\u201d White said. \u201cAnd every time we\u2019ve had a change, every time we\u2019ve brought someone in, every time we\u2019ve had rotational changes, they\u2019re for each other\u2026 When you have that, it just gives you opportunities to do really special things.\u201d<\/p>\n It was just one game in a best-of-five series, but the Fever certainly did special things in it. Mitchell was the highlight. The star guard, who the WNBA announced as the fifth-place finisher in MVP voting early on Sunday, was sensational \u2014 she finished with 34 points and did so in a variety of ways. She made four threes, eight twos, and six foul shots along the way. The Aces couldn\u2019t keep her away from the rim even when she was their focus. On the rare play when Vegas contained Mitchell, she fired, and buried shots, from the outside.<\/p>\n \u201cClearly we had no answer for Mitchell,\u201d Hammon said of the Fever star. The Aces lost by 20 in the minutes that Mitchell was on the floor.<\/p>\n Indiana\u2019s defense can be up and down, but it\u2019s been up of late. Their on-a-string play has made life more difficult for opponents. When they get their ball-screen coverages correct, good things happen.<\/p>\n In Game 1, that was the case often. Outside of Jackie Young<\/a>\u2018s nose for the ball generating some easy shots, none of Vegas\u2019 premier talents got going. Chelsea Gray<\/a> had 13 points on 12 shot attempts. Jewell Loyd<\/a> made just one of her five looks from the field, finishing with three points. They all struggled.<\/p>\n Wilson was the center of it all. Sunday morning, the WNBA announced that she won her fourth MVP award. Sunday night, Hammon was fielding questions about an off night from her top talent.<\/p>\n Wilson went 1 for 7 in the first quarter and hardly recovered from the slow start. The Fever showed her bodies in the lane and forced her into tougher, fading shots \u2014 she can make those, of course, but didn\u2019t on Sunday. She finished 6 for 22 from the field with 16 points, and she coughed up three turnovers.<\/p>\n Aliyah Boston played fantastic defense. Indiana cleaned up the boards. And they attacked Wilson at the right times \u2014 the MVP had four fouls, and when she exited due to foul trouble in the third quarter, the Fever immediately went on a run. They limited Wilson enough to run away with the game.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know she\u2019s an MVP. She\u2019s the best player in the world at the moment. So we just tried to make all her buckets tough,\u201d Brianna Turner<\/a>, one of the Fever\u2019s best defenders of late, shared. \u201cWe wanted to make sure that every shot had a hand in her face or she was feeling contact. So just trying to make every bucket as hard as possible and not give her any easy ones.\u201d<\/p>\n The pace, the defense on a star, and the Mitchell of it all guided the Indiana Fever to a Game 1 win. They need two more of those to advance to the WNBA Finals, and their high-level play of late should give them confidence that such an outcome is possible. They showed it on Sunday. And they\u2019ve been showing it often of late. Maybe that\u2019s the real Fever.<\/p>\n![\"Aliyah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/USATSI_27139483.jpg\")
Sep 21, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston (7) attempts to score a layup against Las Vegas Aces forward NaLyssa Smith (3) during the first quarter in game one of the second round for the 2025 WNBA Playoffs at Michelob Ultra Arena. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
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