The bad news is that the Indiana Fever and Las Vegas Aces are set to face off in the very first round of the WNBA playoffs, which means one of them won’t be getting a deep run this year. The good news is that we’re now guaranteed to see a battle of the league’s best player versus the league’s most popular player.
With their matchup in the First Round of the WNBA playoffs now confirmed, the two teams are set to start their best-of-3 series this Sunday. The Aces will host Game 1 at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas at 4 p.m. ET. That game will air on ABC.
Game 2 will be Tuesday, September 29 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse at 6:30 p.m. and will air on Prime Video. Should the series go to Game 3, the Aces will host it on October 1. Time and channel are TBD as of writing.
Battle of the Scoring Leaders
The Fever and Aces squared off three times in the regular season, with the Fever coming out on top twice, with both wins coming in Vegas. Ironically, the Fever lost their game against the Aces in Indiana.
However, it should be noted that the Aces did not have the services of all-world forward A’ja Wilson for that first meeting, which the Fever won 84-68. So if we discount that game since both teams weren’t at their best, they’re even at 1-1, having taken wins at each others’ home venues.
The game will feature the three highest points scorers in the league with Wilson having just won her third straight scoring title but the Fever boasting Kelsey Mitchell and Clark, who finished second and third respectively on points per game.
Clark wound up finishing second in the league in assists.
Justin Casterline/Getty Images
And while Wilson dominated inside the paint by leading the league in 2-point field goals, Mitchell was money from beyond the arc, leading the league in 3-pointers.
Simply put, if the two teams play offense in this game as well as they have all year, we should be in for two (but hopefully three) superb WNBA playoff games.
The only thing that stinks is that one of their playoff runs has to end so soon.
