How many more times can the Indiana Fever shock the league this season? For the second time in as many rounds, they silenced a home crowd of 10,409 at Michelob ULTRA Arena, toppling the Las Vegas Aces this time after silencing the Atlanta crowd a few days back. Even Becky Hammon couldn’t hide her respect and revealed the main reason behind the loss.

According to The Athletic, the Las Vegas Aces spent roughly 90 percent of Saturday’s practice focused on defense, fully aware of the offensive firepower the Indiana Fever would bring. But on game night, that preparation didn’t translate. The Fever dominated in the paint (50–38), on fast breaks, at the free-throw line (16–10), and on second-chance points (10–9), while shooting an impressive 50% from the field.

Speaking in the postgame conference, Becky Hammon revealed that keeping A’ja Wilson quiet was the biggest reason the Fever had won the tie. “It’s a level of concern. I know we’re capable, but not when we play like that. You know, God forbid A’ja doesn’t drop 40 for us.”

And she wasn’t wrong. The Fever executed their defense to near perfection, holding newly crowned four-time MVP A’ja Wilson to just 16 points on 6-of-22 shooting from the field. That’s no small feat for a player who entered the postseason averaging 23.4 points and 2.3 blocks per game, while also leading the league in 20-point and 30-point double-doubles. Wilson had carried that form into the playoffs as well, scoring 88 points and grabbing 26 rebounds in the series against Seattle.

“Honestly, she had a lot of great looks and she just missed. It happens,” Hammon added. And she wasn’t wrong. Wilson missed 14 shots around the basket–four of them from inside the restricted area. Most of those attempts weren’t easy, though. Aliyah Boston was guarding her for 35 possessions and holding her to just a 16.7% effective field goal percentage, per Swish Appeal’s Josh Felton.

Another thing that didn’t go Wilson’s way was the free-throw line. She only got there five times. For someone who usually averages 10.7 trips per game in the postseason, that’s a huge drop. The Fever, and especially Aliyah Boston, did a great job keeping her out of rhythm.

After the series against the Seattle Storm, Hammon had pointed out that 73 was their magic number. “In the defensive end, 73 is our magic number. We are 11‑1… now 12‑1 when we hold teams to 73 or fewer.” Yet, Indiana surpassed that mark with nine minutes left, showing just how much the Aces’ defense will need to tighten up.

But for Hammon, it wasn’t just A’ja Wilson’s performance that caused the Aces’ struggles against the Indiana Fever–it was also the presence of an opposition guard, not named Caitlin Clark, whose impact on the game hurt the Aces significantly.

Hammon Acknowledges Mitchell’s Stellar Performance in Loss to Fever

The series between the Aces and the Fever was billed as a clash of MVP contenders. While A’ja Wilson rightly earned the honor, she knew that facing a Fever team led by Kelsey Mitchell wouldn’t be easy–and Mitchell proved exactly why she belonged in the MVP conversation.

The Fever poured in 34 points on 12-of-23 shooting, drilling four treys along the way in a historic performance. As ESPN’s Alexa Philippou noted, it was the second-highest scoring output by a Fever player in playoff history. Becky Hammon was quick to admit that Mitchell’s brilliance made it incredibly difficult for the Aces tonight.

“But you can start on the defensive end. I mean, clearly, we had no answer for Mitchell. Couldn’t even attempt to slow her down a little bit. I thought it was really poor,” she said in the post-game conference. “We at least missed nine, maybe 10 [layups]. I know we had six or seven [misses] at halftime, and the trend kind of continued in the second half. So, I mean, that’s potentially 20 points on the board.”

Defense will be the key focus for the Aces as they head into Game 2, now facing the Fever with home-court advantage. The Aces have been here before–three years ago, they dropped Game 1 at home in the semifinals against the Seattle Storm but came back to win the next three and secure the franchise’s first title. Indiana, on the other hand, is experiencing this playoff stage together for the first time, so don’t count the Aces out just yet!