Caitlin Clark expects Las Vegas to switch more in Game 3, potentially putting A'ja Wilson on her more often as the Fever and Aces decide the series.
Caitlin Clark expects to see more of A'ja Wilson on switches when the Indiana Fever and Las Vegas Aces play Game 3 of their first-round series Thursday.
Indiana beat Las Vegas 99-89 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to tie the best-of-three first-round series 1-1. Clark had 27 points and 15 assists and went 5-of-11 from 3-point range.
Her 14 points and 11 assists by halftime made her the first WNBA player with a points-assists double-double before intermission in a postseason game.
Aliyah Boston went 10-of-15 from the field for 22 points. Clark said some of those baskets came off the Fever's work against Las Vegas' switches.
Clark Expects More Wilson Matchups in Game 3
"I think we did a good job," Clark said. "I think early in transition we were able to get what we wanted, and a lot of action where we were getting the switches off of a pin-down and sending our post player up when we already had the switch, then diving back down to the block. We were able to get A.B. some baskets out of that."
"They're probably going to change the coverage from tonight, so you have to just go into Game 3 and run a few things at the beginning and kind of see what they're doing," Clark continued. "But I think they do switch when things aren't going as well. That's kind of what they resort to, switching one through five. And so I'll probably see A'ja Wilson a little bit more. But you just kind of have to be aware as much as you can and manipulate it as much as you can."
"I think they did a really good job kind of having backside help," Clark added. "I think that was kind of the difference between the first and the second half. I had a few lazy turnovers that were passes deflected off of them, kind of helping in on A.B. even when she had a small player. So the more we can kind of get it to the wing and get an easier entry, I think will be important. But just go back and watch the film and find more ways we can exploit it."
Wilson is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, and on Sunday she was the AP's pick for WNBA Player of the Year for a third consecutive season.
She finished Game 2 with 22 points and nine rebounds on 5-of-11 shooting, and 12 of her points came at the free-throw line.
The Fever outscored the Aces 58-26 in the paint.
Clark Responds in Fourth Quarter
Clark's fourth foul sent her to the bench late in the third quarter with the Fever up 69-54.
After the Aces cut it to 76-71 early in the fourth, her 3-pointer rolled in to make it 87-77, and she pulled up from 30 feet over Wilson on the next trip for an 11-point lead.
"I thought I came out a little tired in the second half, missed a few shots, a few threes early," Clark explained. "And then in the fourth quarter, you just got to go. And I think that's what I did."
"My teammates finished really well around the basket. I thought A.B. was really, really good tonight — physical, played through contact. Kelsey's just Kelsey, does what she does," Clark detailed. "I thought we were really good in that regard. What, 22 assists on 11 turnovers. I think we took care of the ball a lot better in the second half as well, which didn't give them as many opportunities to score."
"But overall, I think we just had a presence about us right from the start of the game, and I knew we were going to battle, especially when we got down eight there in the first or second quarter," Clark noted. "It felt like we were right back in it within two minutes."
Kelsey Mitchell went 7-of-16 and scored 26. Indiana shot 52.1% from the field.
Lexie Hull had four points, and rookie Raven Johnson scored six on 3-of-5 shooting off the bench.
White Wants Every Cut to Be a Scoring Cut
Every cut is supposed to be a scoring cut in Fever coach Stephanie White's offense.
"When we play small, it gives us a little bit more opportunity to do some of that," White said. "But it wasn't a lot of standing around watching someone dribble. We were moving, we were cutting, and cutting with purpose. We talk about every cut being a scoring cut."
"I thought our activity level was really good," White continued. "I thought our ability to get the ball to the second and third side — we just played with much more intention on the offensive end tonight."
Clark, Mitchell, and Boston combined to shoot 26-of-49.
"It's big. And not just their scoring, but the efficiency with which they did it. Caitlin 9-for-18, Kels 7-for-16, A.B. 10-for-15 and probably got fouled on about four of those," White explained. "I just think that the efficiency with which they shot the ball was really, really good."
"And there's a correlation. When you move the ball like that and the way that they shared it and how they got it to each other, the shot quality was higher," White added. "And I thought that's where I felt like Caitlin just did a great job of orchestrating the offense."
Fever, Aces Head to Decisive Game 3
Las Vegas won Game 1 on Sunday 102-85. The Aces got 93 of those points from Wilson, Chelsea Gray, and Jackie Young, and Wilson put up 38 points and 16 rebounds.
Young scored 31 points in Game 2 and went 13-of-13 at the free-throw line. Gray went 4-of-11 for 10 points and handed out seven assists.
Indiana won the first two regular-season meetings, 84-68 on July 5 and 109-75 a week later. The Aces took the third, 86-84 in overtime on Aug. 6 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The defending champion Aces were the No. 3 seed at 31-13. Indiana finished 28-16 as the No. 6 seed.
Tip-off for Game 3 on Thursday at Michelob Ultra Arena is 9 p.m. ET.
