LAS VEGAS (AP) — A’ja Wilson made sure her basketball spoke for itself Thursday night.
The four-time WNBA MVP, who had a verbal encounter with a Fever fan in Indiana two nights earlier, scored 36 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the defending champion Las Vegas Aces to a 94-83 victory in the deciding Game 3 of the first round.
“I have my moments because I’m human,” Wilson said. “But after a while, I understood I didn’t want that to be a distraction to myself and my team, and I knew what we had to do coming into tonight. So I put it behind me. I prayed a lot. I cried a lot.”
The third-seeded Aces, who have won three of the past four titles, moved on to play the winner of the Golden State-Dallas series, which will be decided Friday night in San Francisco.
This is the second year in a row Las Vegas has ended the season for the Fever, who were seeded sixth. The teams met in the semifinals a year ago, with the Aces pulling out an overtime victory in the finale of the five-game series that Caitlin Clark missed because of injury.
“We’ve got to give credit to the Aces,” Clark said. “I thought they played well. I thought they were ready to go. That’s what championship teams do.”
Wilson book ended this series with sensational performances in Games 1 and 3, making her sure verbal confrontation with a Fever fan wouldn’t be the enduring memory. The league did not punish Wilson, who opened the series with 38 points and 16 rebounds, followed up in this game by scoring 21 points in the first half and making 11 of 18 shots overall.
Teammate Chelsea Gray added 23 points and Jackie Young had 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Clark scored 11 points in the first quarter, but was held to seven the rest of the game. Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 23 points but shot 7 for 23. Aliyah Boston had 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Tensions ran high again Thursday, both teams bringing the physical play expected when each season is on the line in a game that had the intensity of a WNBA Finals.
Clark and Las Vegas’ Brianna Turner each picked up a technical foul just more than three minutes into Game 3. The Fever were huddling on the court when Turner worked her way into the group only to be shoved out by Clark.
Early in the second quarter, Indiana coach Stephanie White was called for a technical, arguing that Turner brought down Lexie Hull, who instead picked up the foul.
Clark took a shot to her mouth in the fourth quarter and had to be attended to because of the blood.
The Aces threatened to run away from Indiana in the third quarter, taking a 67-55 before going cold over the final 4:32 and making just one shot. The Fever twice cut their deficit to two points in the fourth to make Las Vegas sweat out the ending.
Aces forward Stephanie Talbot, who started all but one game this season, did not play because of a leg injury and was replaced by Jewell Loyd, who scored 11 points. Talbot averaged 8.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in the first two games of this series.
Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said she didn’t know what Talbot’s status would be going forward.
“She was a game-time decision,” Hammon said. “I just told her, ‘You’ve got to do what’s best for your body.’ Her assignment in this particular game is such a huge one if she’s not at 100%, I need to see somebody at 100%. I know she was heartbroken she couldn’t get out there and physically get it done.”
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