The Indiana Fever have made Gainbridge Fieldhouse a true weapon, going 13–9 at home despite an injury-hit roster. Game 2 against Atlanta showed just how overpowering that atmosphere can be, as the Dream crumbled under the crowd’s roar. With nearly 700,000 fans turning out across the season, even without Caitlin Clark, the Fever set the league standard for support. The Las Vegas Aces know what’s coming, and A’ja Wilson is determined not to let Indiana’s fans shake her team’s focus.

During the post-game presser, a reporter asked A’ja Wilson about her experience playing against the Fever at their home turf and the reception she got from the local fans. The 2025 WNBA MVP replied, “I mean, I feel like when we play, it’s loud everywhere on the road, and it’s really no difference. Our experience there has not been great this season.” But playing two back-to-back games at Indiana requires the best of the teams to have a road map. Wilson shared the same before moving to Game 3.

The Las Vegas Aces won Game 2 by a 90-68 score, but Wilson remembers the record at Gainbridge but doesn’t want to give it much attention. “We’ve lost Games there. So, we have to come in with the mindset of like ‘we got to stick together no matter what’. Obviously, the crowd’s going to get into it. It’s play… playoff atmosphere. Like the whole city’s going to come out, but that doesn’t change who we are, and the game that we need to play, and the system that we have”.

The Las Vegas Aces finished the season with a solid 13–9 record on the road, while the Indiana Fever posted the same mark at home. Historically, the Aces have held the upper hand against the Fever. But the story has shifted recently. Their last two trips to Gainbridge Fieldhouse, including both meetings this season, ended in defeat.

Game 1 of the series was another reminder, as Kelsey Mitchell and company rolled to an emphatic 89–73 victory at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Even if Las Vegas managed to respond in Game 2, this year’s record shows that success inside Gainbridge is far from guaranteed. Still, A’ja Wilson remains confident in her team’s ability to handle the pressure and reclaim control of the series.

“So, is it going to be loud? Yes. Is it going to be rowdy? Probably, but when it comes to us in our locker room, we just got to keep the main thing the main thing,” Wilson added. “And that’s continue to be there for each other.”

But the Fever, on the other hand, remains confident even after the Game 2 loss. Lexie Hull is certainly looking forward to Game 3 of the Semi-Finals taking place at home court. After all, as she admitted after Game 2, “I know the last time it was the first playoff game in a really long time, so just to be able to have two more for our fans that have been there with us all season, [we’re] really excited for that, and we definitely do feed off of their energy”.

Having thousands of your fans cheering for you while simultaneously booing or even jeering at your rivals can make the difference between a win and a loss. However, with both the Fever and the Aces having made good use of homecourt advantage once, the latter has no intention of letting it happen again in favor of the Fever.

Even with Home-court advantage on their side, the Indiana Fever will have to go the extra mile to shut the Aces down in Game 3. After all, they failed to utilize the suggestion that a WNBA analyst gave them for the recent matchup.

Indiana Fever missed one trick by Rachel A. DeMita to keep A’ja Wilson in control

After Game 1, Courtside Club’s Rachel A. DeMita discussed the same on her podcast. After analyzing the game, the host concluded that the Indiana Fever beat the Aces by 16 points because “they held A’ja to under 20 points. If you hold A’ja to under 20 points in any game, the Aces aren’t winning”. DeMita even suggested the Aces should change their name to the ‘Las Vegas A’jas’. After all, according to her, the team is fully reliant on the 2025 WNBA MVP.

“There was a moment in tonight’s game that basically just put on display the biggest weakness with the Las Vegas Aces. So, there was a point in time when A’ja got her fourth foul. So, she was in foul trouble, and she headed to the bench. At this point in time, the Indiana Fever was winning by three points against the Aces. By the time Aj’a came back into the game, which was just a few minutes later because she had to, the Fever were up by 14 points,” said DeMita.

Well, the Indiana Fever failed to repeat the effectiveness of their defensive prowess this time around. In Game 2, she ended up recording 25 points, along with 9 rebounds and 1 assist, by shooting 10-18 (55.6%) field goals, 1-1 (100.0%) 3-pointers, and 4-4 (100.0%) free throws. Wilson recorded her 11th 25-point game in the playoffs, allowing her to tie with WNBA legend Maya Moore for the fifth-most in league history.

A’ja Wilson didn’t take the Round 1 Game 2 loss lightly. She admitted that “I told my team yesterday that the loss yesterday was more embarrassing to me than the 53-point loss (to Minnesota) because we really didn’t do anything. We didn’t do our job, so if we come to work and do our job, it’s a different story.” She led by example in Game 3. Whether she does the same for the Semifinals’ Game 3 in front of a tough crowd that remains to be seen.