Aces keep Fever stagnant again, win by double-digits as Wilson returns to lineup

Two-time league MVP A’ja Wilson returned to the lineup for the Las Vegas Aces and helped lead the team on both ends to a road victory.

Las Vegas got the better of Indiana, 86-75, Wednesday, Sept. 11 from the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in the first of back-to-back games from the Hoosier State. Entering Wednesday’s meeting, the Aces were slotted as the No. 4 seed if the playoffs were to begin today, two spots ahead of the Fever.

“As a leader, you have to care about the people that you’re leading,” head coach Becky Hammon said. “Especially in a team setting, it’s not like you’re a COO and you’re over 300 hundred people. This is a tight flock and you want everybody to do well.”

Four more games remain on the regular season schedule for the back-to-back defending champions. Moreover, the team has just one more game left to complete this four-game road trip.

The final meeting with Indiana will take place Friday, Sept. 13 from the same venue. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

“I’m not sure I’d tell you if I knew right off the top of my head,” Hammon said of potential adjustments heading into Friday. “I figure we’re going to try to do more of the same. Definitely some things we can clean up offensively but defensively that was a hell of a job.”

Its latest win pushed Las Vegas 10 games over .500 for the first time this season at 23-13. As of now, the club is three games behind a third-seeded Connecticut squad and four games behind No. 2 Minnesota.

While the defensive anchor returned for the Aces, it was a complete team effort on the defensive end to shut down the home team. The Fever were held to just just 40% from the field and 27% from three-point range.

“The attention to detail,” Hammon said. “We’re locked in, we’re doing our base well. And when you do your base well and you’re locked in on the base, you know certain things are no-no’s. When we do those things we tend to be on the same page and we can get multiple stops in a row.”

This defensive performance by Las Vegas comes in a matchup of two of the league’s top three fastest-paced teams. On top of that, the team came out and couldn’t get the lid off the basket, missing on its first seven attempts from the field while falling behind 7-0 to Indiana.

About midway through the second quarter, the Aces had found their defensive rhythm as they held their opponent without a point for nearly three minutes. Ultimately, it would be a +7 second quarter for the champs highlighted by an eventual three blocks and two steals from the aforementioned Wilson.

“Every year she comes back better,” Hammon said. “You’re really starting to see a really, really gifted woman come into this maturity stage of her, not only life but her basketball career.”

Las Vegas’ perimeter defense was on point as well as it held No. 1 overall pick and Rookie of the Year favorite Caitlin Clark to just one make from deep on 10 tries.

Amidst that 0-for-7 start from the field, Wilson not only scored the first points of the game for her Aces but she’d rattle off the first 10 points for her group. By the second quarter, she had set a new single-season scoring record, passing previous leader Jewell Loyd’s 939-point mark set in 2023.

Wilson is also on pace to set a new single-season scoring average which is currently held by future Hall-of-Famer Diana Taurasi.

“It felt like it was just lingering and lingering and lingering,” she said. “So I’m glad that we got it done, it’s been a lot of fun. My teammates gave me a great cold water shower but I credit it all to them. I don’t want to sound cliche when I say this but I don’t get that without every single teammate along the way.”

In the third quarter, Wilson put the finishing touches on her 18th double-double of the season. She’d finish with 27 points and 12 rebounds, both good for game-highs.

In 35 games played this season, Wilson has reached at least 20 points in 32 of the outings.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to have been in this league long enough to play alongside some amazing players — some Hall-of-Fame players,” forward Alysha Clark said. “This one is no different. That’s something that I’ve always kind of sat back and marveled at, I’ve always been able to be like, ‘Well, you don’t have A’ja Wilson.’ It’s such a special time and to be here and witness her greatness and the way she goes about it and does it.”

Wilson converted a late shot clock buzzer-beating and-one with 63 seconds left in regulation. After an official review, she cashed in on the free throw before Clark iced the game with her fourth three of the night.

Clark’s 14 points were just part of the four Las Vegas players that reached double-figure scoring including guards Tiffany Hayes and Chelsea Gray.

Hayes cashed in on two threes in the first quarter on her way to three for the game in a 12-point outing. Gray added 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting to go along with a team-high four assists that shared with fellow guards Jackie Young and Sydney Colson.

“That’s what helps championship teams,” Clark said. “When you have depth, when you have people you can rely on and we have a bench full of professionals that are ready every single day.”