A'ja Wilson had 38 points and 16 rebounds while shooting 15-of-19 as the Aces beat the Fever 102-85 in Game 1 of the WNBA playoffs.
A'ja Wilson had 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting by halftime Sunday in Las Vegas, and the Aces took a 62-47 lead into the break against the Indiana Fever. Las Vegas finished off a 102-85 win in Game 1 of the best-of-three first-round series.
Wilson ended the game with 38 points, 16 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 assists, and 2 steals. She shot 15-of-19 from the field, made both of her 3-point attempts, and went 6-of-7 at the free-throw line.
The 38 points matched her playoff career high, according to ESPN. She also became the first player in any WNBA game, regular season or postseason, to record 35 points and 15 rebounds while shooting 75% from the field.
It was Wilson's second career playoff game with at least 35 points and 15 rebounds. The rest of the league has two combined in postseason history, per ESPN.
Her 11th career 30-point playoff game extended a league record. Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty is next with nine. Wilson has also scored 20 or more points in seven consecutive playoff games, which ties for the third-longest streak in league history.
Before halftime, Wilson also had 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. The league said she was the first player with at least 20 points, 3 blocks, and 2 steals in one half of a playoff game.
Earlier Sunday, The Associated Press named Wilson its WNBA Player of the Year for the third straight season.
Aces Keep Feeding Wilson
Chelsea Gray finished with 14 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds, and she wants the ball in Wilson's hands.
"Get out the way," Gray said. "Give her the basketball. ... It's a blessing being able to see this every single day."
Gray now has 397 career playoff assists. That moved her past Courtney Vandersloot, who has 390, for second in league playoff history, according to The Associated Press.
Jackie Young scored 21 points and handed out 10 assists for her third career playoff double-double. She also had 3 steals. Jewell Loyd added 10 points, and Las Vegas shot 38-of-64 from the field, or 59.4%.
Wilson said the Aces were performing well because they handled the defensive end. Las Vegas scored 28 points off 17 Indiana turnovers.
"I don't think I necessarily felt any flow state this game," Wilson said. "Honestly, we were just performing well because we handled what we needed to do on the defensive end. I don't think I had an out-of-body experience."
"I think I just did my job," Wilson continued. "I did what my teammates are expecting me to do. So, if I'm able to show up consistently for them in whatever way it may look like, then I feel like I did all right."
Becky Hammon Calls Wilson a 'Clinician'
The Aces led 86-65 after three quarters. Their largest lead was 27 points, and Indiana won the fourth quarter 20-16.
Aces coach Becky Hammon saw Wilson at both ends of the floor.
"She understands the stakes always," Hammon said. "She was a clinician. She was all over the court everywhere. Defensive end, offensive end, blocks, steals, boards, scoring. There's nothing she couldn't do tonight."
Fever Stars Struggle in Game 1
Caitlin Clark scored 15 points and had 10 assists, a career playoff high, per ESPN. She also committed 6 turnovers. Kelsey Mitchell scored 12 points on 4-of-16 shooting, and the two combined to go 10-of-33 from the field.
During the regular season, Mitchell averaged 24.7 points and broke Wilson's single-season points record. She also put together a league-record streak of 27 straight games with at least 20 points, according to The Associated Press. Clark averaged 22.3 points.
Clark gave the Fever an F for their defense after the game, The Associated Press reported.
Aliyah Boston led Indiana with 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists and made 3-of-6 from 3-point range. She finished with 5 fouls. On Thursday, Boston left the Fever's regular-season finale at Minnesota in the second quarter with a flare-up of a right lower leg injury.
Raven Johnson scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting off the bench, and Sophie Cunningham added 13. Indiana's reserves outscored the Las Vegas bench 33-21.
The Fever played without Tyasha Harris, who was carried off in the same game in Minnesota and will miss the playoffs with a broken fibula.
Fever Face Elimination in Game 2
Fever coach Stephanie White said the playoffs require a different level of intensity and urgency, and that Las Vegas came with it.
"Oftentimes, you have to be humbled first, right?" White said. "That's life. You don't always learn from the successes, yet you learn from being humbled."
Indiana won the regular-season series 2-1. The Fever beat the Aces 84-68 on July 5 and 109-75 on July 12, and Las Vegas won 86-84 in overtime on Aug. 6.
Last season, the Aces eliminated Indiana in overtime of Game 5 of the semifinals and went on to sweep Phoenix in the Finals for their third championship in four years.
Game 2 tips at 6:30 p.m. ET Tuesday in Indianapolis on Prime Video. Game 3, if necessary, would be Thursday in Las Vegas.
