The Indiana Fever arrived to their WNBA playoff series with the Las Vegas Aces with a lot of hope, but one old friend is creating more than a few headaches along the way. NaLyssa Smith, a former Indiana teammate of Caitlin Clark, has been one of the Aces’ best players during the playoffs.
From Fever prospect to Aces x-factor
Smith’s WNBA professional career has not been straightforward. After the 2022 second-overall pick of the Indiana Fever, she was expected to become the rebuilding main piece of the team. However, after three rollercoaster years combined with shifting coaching philosophies, the team traded her out earlier this season.
The 24-year-old shooter ended up in Las Vegas via a midseason trade, and the transaction has completely reboosted her career. With the Aces, she has earned a larger role and, more significantly, the trust from coach Becky Hammon, who believes in her to get the job done in crunch time.
A breakout postseason
In this playoff series, Smith has emerged from darkness:
- Scoring close to 10 points and 6 rebounds per game against Indiana.
- Scoring 16 points with four blocks in Game 3, an effort graded as “enormous” by analysts
- Carrying the team when A’ja Wilson had struggles offensively, proving she can be a consistent secondary scorer.
Not even when injury concerns threated benching her for Game 2 did Hammon put Smith out of the game, and the forward repaid that faith with consistent production.
“She’s not just filling in, she’s changing the series in ways that don’t always show up in the box score,” as one WNBA writer said.
Caitlin Clark and the Fever
For Caitlin Clark and the team, Smith’s return is a blessing in some ways and a curse in some others. Clark has been dealing with a groin injury that kept her out from postseason availability, forcing Indiana to ride offense. Without Clark on the court, the Fever defense has been unable to keep up with both Wilson and Smith.
It is way deeper than that: a player Indiana once drafted to use as a rebuilding piece is now thriving on the other side and more that ready to punish her former team back in their postseason run.
Smith’s ascension in Las Vegas represents the typical player’s personal redemption arc. It serves as a precedent to how rapidly things can change in the WNBA. For Clark, who is still the face of the Fever’s future, the message is straightforward: yesterday’s teammate could become tomorrow’s greatest hurdle.
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