The Las Vegas Aces were dealt a tough blow in Game 1 of the WNBA Playoff Semifinals as they fell 89-73 at the hands of the Indiana Fever.
With this first win of the best-of-5 series, the two teams will meet again in Game 2 at Michelob ULTRA Arena on Tuesday, September 23. However, one NBA icon’s opinion got all the attention.
Warriors star weighed in on Aces loss
Kelsey Mitchell certainly stole the show, scoring 34 points in 34 minutes of action for the Fever. In addition, Indiana was backed by Odyssey Sims and Natasha Howard, who were the other two players to score in double digits with 17 and 12 points respectively. Aliyah Boston added 11 rebounds and 5 assists.
Meanwhile, the Aces shined thanks to Jackie Young‘s 19 points and A’ja Wilson‘s 16 points. However, they could not put a stop to the Fever. However, a pre-game dispute seemed to leave Stephanie White’s team hurt.
Wilson became the only player in league history to win 4 MVPs, an award for which Mitchell was also competing. Despite this, they did not let themselves be defeated and Fever took the first victory. And this competitive spirit was highlighted by Draymond Green.
After the showdown, Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors teammate shared his opinion with his followers on his official Threads account:
“The Fever did exactly what they were supposed to do. When you have an MVP crowned before a playoff game, it’s something weird about the energy that the team usually can’t shake in that game. The Fever capitalized,” wrote the four-time NBA champion and went on to say: “It’s very hard to put the excitement for the MVP aside for the team and move forward with energy. Usually results in an extremely flat team“.
The truth is that the 29-year-old center from the Aces had an outstanding season with the team and averaged 23.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Meanwhile, Mitchell averaged 20.2 points, 3.4 assists, 1.8 rebounds and 0.9 steals.
Now, facing Game 2, Indiana will take the court reinforced with the victory obtained and will look to repeat the result, while the Las Vegas Aces will fight to obtain the first victory in the Semifinals, taking advantage of playing at home.
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