The Indiana Fever rattled the Las Vegas Aces in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series, forcing a decisive Game 3 with a 99-89 victory. For former college basketball player and WNBA analyst Rachel DeMita, winning Game 3 was simply a matter of sticking to what worked in the second game and replicating it. But the way she sees it, that did not happen, ultimately resulting in a 94-83 Game 3 loss and the end of the Fever’s season.

“I think the Fever went away from everything that worked for them in Game 2,” DeMita said, speaking on Friday’s episode of her Courtside Club podcast. “And that’s the thing that’s just so frustrating to me, because I do think the Aces are a beatable team.”

“The Fever didn’t do the things to make it difficult on A’ja as they did in Game 2. The thing that the Fever did best in Game 2 was that they kept the Aces on their heels, and they pushed the pace, and they sent the double team. There were so many times that A’ja got flustered… I don’t understand from a coaching perspective. How do you go away from the things that clearly worked…,” she added.

A’ja Wilson was indeed brilliant across the three games played. However, in that second game, the Fever did make sure to make things a little more difficult for her. 

The first game, which ended in a 102-85 victory for the Aces, saw Wilson finish with 38 points and 16 rebounds while shooting 78.9% from the field. In fact, she became the first player in WNBA history to record at least 35 points and 15 rebounds while shooting 75% or better from the field in a game. The Fever simply could not contain her in transition or stop her from getting deep post positioning.

However, following that dominant showing, the Indiana Fever brought a completely different level of defensive challenge in the second game. While A’ja Wilson still managed to score 22 points, the Indiana Fever used highly aggressive and physical defensive schemes to successfully disrupt her efficiency. She was held to just 10 points by halftime on 3-of-8 shooting. And she finished the night shooting just 5-of-11 from the field, having to salvage her scoring line by going 12-of-13 from the free-throw line.

The frustration even got to the point where Wilson found herself in a confrontation with a fan during the game.

Whatever the Indiana Fever did to make life difficult for Wilson in that second game, however, seemed absent in the third. Or perhaps, the Aces and Wilson had simply figured out a way to counter it. 

Wilson came out blazing with 21 points in the first half to set the tone and ended the game with 36 points on 11-of-18 shooting. By dropping 36 points and 10 rebounds, she also broke a tie with Candace Parker and Tamika Catchings for the second-most playoff double-doubles in WNBA history with 28, officially ending the Fever’s season.

However, beyond the defense relaxing on A’ja Wilson, the Indiana Fever also went completely cold from the field, which proved to be another major downfall in Game 3. They finished the game shooting an abysmal 9-of-32, or 28.1%, from three-point range. That tied for their seventh-worst three-point shooting mark of the entire season, completely stifling their ability to space the floor. They also shot just 38.5% from the field overall, going 30-of-78. 

Caitlin Clark and her backcourt partner Kelsey Mitchell were particularly poor. After a blazing-hot first quarter in which she scored 11 points, Clark hit a massive wall, finishing just 6-of-18 from the floor and 3-of-12 from deep. Mitchell, meanwhile, led the team with 23 points but needed a highly inefficient 23 field-goal attempts to get there, making just seven of them, including 3-of-11 from beyond the arc.

In the end, the Indiana Fever showed in Game 2 that they could push the Aces and that they can make Wilson work for her points. Perhaps the Golden State Valkyries, who will now face the defending champions in the quarterfinal, can take a cue from this.