LAS VEGAS — Last year, the Las Vegas Aces and Indiana Fever played a five-game semifinal series that was still undecided when regulation ended in Game 5. It took overtime for the Aces, who eventually won the title, to topple the depleted Fever.
This year, the Fever only had a winning record against one of the other seven playoff teams: the Aces. Recent history has been kind to Indiana against their first-round foe. But the Fever aren’t interested in playing up that past success. They aren’t looking back ahead of their upcoming series against A’ja Wilson and the reigning champs.
“That series means nothing,” Fever head coach Stephanie White told reporters in Las Vegas on Saturday. “It’s a whole [different] team that we have, and they’re different as well. It’s another year of experience for some people. Last year has nothing to do with this year.”
The Fever have grown as an offensive team from last season to now. They own the WNBA’s best offensive rating, over two points per 100 possessions better than the next-best team (Las Vegas, ironically). Their defensive rating has tumbled and is below average. The Aces rank fifth on that end of the floor.
Both teams can score. They were the top two teams in effective field goal percentage and true shooting percentage. But they do so in different ways. The Fever were second in the league in pace this season while the Aces ranked eighth — one team wants to get into their actions early to create an advantage, the other is methodical and takes its time looking for a good shot.
Those styles are dictated by their stars. Indiana has a backcourt featuring two of the league’s likely top-five MVP vote-getters in Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark. Las Vegas has the MVP favorite in Wilson. The strengths of those players are the defining features of both teams.
“A’ja’s the best player in the world, and we always have our work cut out for us,” White said. “But it’s also a collective team effort to make sure that we have awareness when she gets involved.”
“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is out now!
Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.
In the regular season, the Fever went 2-1 against the Aces. The one loss was a heartbreaker — Mitchell and Clark missed three straight free throws before Aces star Chelsea Gray hit a three to send the game to overtime. In that extra period, Gray once again drilled a triple at the buzzer to give Vegas the win.
Without that dramatic finish, the Fever would be 3-0 against the Aces this season. Their tactical approach to those games was important.
“For us, what worked really well was just our pace, continuing to get up and down the floor,” Fever star center Aliyah Boston said of their matchups with the Aces. “We know that they’re going to hit shots. Make them hit tough shots; I feel like that’s our goal. That’s our mindset.”
That worked in the regular season — the Fever’s defense largely held up against a strong Aces offense, and it let them play in the open floor. For the playoffs to feel the same, it will be crucial for Indiana to play to their strengths and push the pace.
The Fever were 13-3 this season when they held their opponent under 87 points. That happened in each of their outings against Las Vegas. Something about this matchup suited them.
The postseason, though, is different. Each team devotes all of its time and attention to one opponent. Tendencies are everything. The best players are on the court more often. Weaknesses are exploited as often as possible.
Generally speaking, the Fever’s defense is the weakest side of the floor among both teams in this series. Their offense is the strongest, though, and last year the Fever entered the playoffs with a below-average defense and found just enough solutions to beat Atlanta. Then they nearly won in round two.
To take down the Aces, they’ll need a similar blueprint in the first round. Their defense needs to be passable, just good enough to create open floor opportunities. Their offense must be stellar, as it has been for almost the entire season.
At every turn, White will need to make choices that play to the team’s strengths. Lean into offense with rotational decisions. Opt for shooting and speed over size. She needs to make sure the Fever look like… well, the Fever. They’ve beaten the Aces this year by playing their game and doing it well. If Vegas takes that away, they’ll claim the edge.
White said getting into the open floor, however her team can, will be important. “We’ve got to hit singles. We’ve got to be smart,” the head coach said. “We’ve got to try to be as disruptive as we can to keep them out of rhythm and hope that we can get some deflections that lead to steals that can allow us to play in transition.”
It’s not easy, especially against the defending champs and three-time winner across the last four finals. If anything, that’s about as hard as it gets.
But the Fever, the sixth seed last year as well, are used to battling through challenging situations and finding solutions. Every time they were crushed in a game this season, they got up off the mat and responded in the next outing. They ironed out defensive scheme issues early in the season — though they are often chasing their tail on that end of the court — and found a better starting lineup in August by moving Makayla Timpson into the opening five.
This team adjusted well in the playoffs last year and made big changes throughout the regular season. That will serve them well against a veteran Aces team. If the Fever want to move on to the semifinals, slight tweaks will be a must, as will sticking to their playing style.
It starts in Las Vegas on Sunday. And it won’t be anything like last year’s Fever-Aces battle.
Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women’s Sports Daily
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women’s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women’s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!
The Fever will be shorthanded, too
The Fever had nine players reach 500 minutes played this season, and those nine had been projected to be the team’s playoff rotation. But that won’t be the case.
In the third quarter of Indiana’s final regular season game, veteran guard Tyasha Harris went down with what the team initially called an ankle injury. She missed the rest of the game and had to be carried off the floor, capping off a rough final week of the regular season for the Fever.
On Saturday, the Fever announced that Harris will miss the rest of the 2026 season with a broken left fibula. She played in 39 games this campaign and was the team’s most reliable bench guard, on top of being a beloved teammate.
“My moonlight,” Boston interjected during a question about Harris’ injury. She said the team will be playing for her in the postseason.
“She means a lot to us as a player,” White said. “On the floor, she’s been a big part of what we do. She’s been a floor general for us … we’re going to miss her.”
White then mentioned rookie guard Raven Johnson as somebody who has played more recently and has to be ready with Harris sidelined. It’s a big ask of a first-year player, but Johnson’s role shouldn’t be too big as most of the backcourt minutes will go to Clark and Mitchell in the playoffs.
Still, it’s another hurdle for the Fever to climb over. They’re used to this after battling through the 2025 postseason with two mid-season hardship signees at point guard in Odyssey Sims and Shey Peddy. But this absence will be an adjustment, and Johnson will have to nail the little things against an established foe.
Kelly Johnson contributed reporting for this story
