A’ja Wilson scored 36 points and grabbed 10 rebounds Thursday night as the Las Vegas Aces eliminated Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever 94-83 in Game 3 of their first round series, sending the defending champions to the WNBA semifinals for the eighth straight season.
Wilson shot 11 of 18 from the field, added two blocks and played 37 minutes at Michelob Ultra Arena. The performance gave her seven career playoff games with at least 35 points and 10 rebounds, the most in WNBA history.
The Fever did not go quietly. Indiana answered every Las Vegas push with a run of its own, and the Aces took only a 54-48 lead into halftime. With under five minutes to play, Wilson already had 31 points and had stretched the lead back to seven. Chelsea Gray took it from there, hitting big shots down the stretch to finish with 23 points, four rebounds and five assists.
Jackie Young added 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Young and Gray both played all 40 minutes, and Jewell Loyd chipped in 11 points.
Clark led Indiana with 18 points and four blocks, giving the Fever a strong start before their offense stalled late.
The win came two nights after A’ja Wilson’s confrontation with a Fever fan in Indianapolis. With 4:10 left in Game 2 and Indiana up 90-79, Sophie Cunningham was called for a foul on Wilson. As Cunningham protested, a man seated behind the baseline stood up and pointed at Wilson. Wilson walked toward him, pointing and shouting, before her teammates pulled her away. Officials gave her a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct, and the Fever went on to win 99-89 to force a deciding game.
Wilson did not back down afterward. She called the fan’s behavior unacceptable and said there are “certain things that I’m not going to allow anymore,” while apologizing to her teammates for the technical. Aces coach Becky Hammon said she had never seen Wilson react that way and that her star “felt very disrespected in that moment.”
The Fever said arena security spoke with the fan and witnesses, found no violation of the Fan Code of Conduct and allowed him to return. The WNBA did not discipline Wilson, clearing her for Game 3. Cunningham later poked fun at the moment in a TikTok about her own viral finger pointing.
Wilson owned the moment. “I have my moments because I’m human,” she said.
Then she went to work. She did not take the bait. She did not make the night about the fan. She put up 36 and 10 and sent Indiana home.
It capped a series where A’ja Wilson set the tone from the start, opening with 38 points and 16 rebounds in the Game 1 win before being held to 22 and nine in the Game 2 loss.
The Aces now continue their chase for a fourth title in five years. They will face the winner of Friday’s Game 3 between the Dallas Wings and the Golden State Valkyries in a best of five semifinal series. Indiana heads into another offseason building around Clark.
