Fever Host Aces for Back-to-Back Matchups Beginning Wednesday

Game Preview: Fever Host Aces for Back-to-Back Matchups Beginning Wednesday

Indiana Fever vs. Las Vegas Aces
Wednesday, Sept. 11
Gainbridge Fieldhouse | 7:00 p.m. ET
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Broadcast Information
MeTV Indianapolis

Probable Starters

Indiana Fever (19-17)

Guard – Kelsey Mitchell (19.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.9 apg)
Guard – Caitlin Clark (19.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 8.5 apg)
Guard – Lexie Hull (5.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.0 apg)
Center – Aliyah Boston (14.3 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 3.1 apg)
Forward – NaLyssa Smith (10.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.1 apg)

Las Vegas Aces (22-13)

Guard – Kelsey Plum (18.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 4.4 apg)
Guard – Chelsea Gray (7.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 5.0 apg)
Guard – Jackie Young (16.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 5.3 apg)
Center – A’ja Wilson (27.3 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 2.7 bpg)
Center – Megan Gustafson (3.2 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 0.3 spg)

Game Status Report

Indiana: No injuries.

Las Vegas: No injuries.

GAME PREVIEW:

After finishing the first three games of a six-game homestand with a 2-1 record, the Indiana Fever return with back-to-back matchups against the Las Vegas Aces on Wednesday and Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. If the Fever secure a win against the Aces this week, it would mark only the second time in franchise history Indiana has won at least one game against all league opponents in a single season since 2010.

The back-to-back WNBA champions took the first two matchups this season against the Fever, most recently on July 2 ending in an 88-69 decision at T-Mobile Arena. During the first meeting of the season back on May 25, Aliyah Boston, Lexie Hull, Kelsey Mitchell and Temi Fagbenle all scored in double figures despite the 99-80 loss.

Since the Olympic break, Hull leads the WNBA in 3-point shooting percentage averaging 69.7 percent (23-of-33) from 3-point range and has shot 6-of-7 in the last two games. In both matchups with Indiana, Aces center A’ja Wilson recorded at least 28 points and nine rebounds, but recently suffered an ankle injury during the Aces’ game with the Connecticut Sun on Friday. Since returning from Olympic break, Wilson, Mitchell and Caitlin Clark have been the top three in the WNBA in points per game entering Wednesday night, all averaging at least 24.7 points per game.

During Indiana’s two most recent games, Boston, Clark and Mitchell all scored at least 20 points to become just the third trio in WNBA history to record two-consecutive 20-point games. The other two trios sit on the visiting team bench in Wilson with Aces guards Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray, and then Wilson, Plum and Aces guard Jackie Young.

Clark, who earned WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors yesterday for the third-consecutive week, continues to lead the league in assists, averaging 8.5 assists per game. She is also ranked eighth overall in the league’s scoring rankings. Clark enters Wednesday with 306 assists and is only 11 assists shy of breaking Alyssa Thomas’s single-season assist record of 316 in 2023.

On Sunday, the New York Liberty snapped the Aces’ four-game winning streak in a 75-71 decision. Wilson did not play, but Plum scored a game-high 25 points with six assists and three rebounds. Only two other Aces players scored in double figures, with guard Young and forward Alysha Clark scoring 12 and 11 points each. On August 30, the Aces clinched a spot in the 2024 WNBA Playoffs after its 83-72 win against the Atlanta Dream.

Indiana and Las Vegas both have solidified their position as two of the best offensive units in the WNBA. The Fever and Aces both sit in the top five in scoring among all teams with the Aces averaging 86.4 points per game and the Fever averaging 84.7 points per game. The teams are tied in fourth place for assists, both averaging 20.4 assists per game. Indiana shoots an average of 45.5 percent from the field while Las Vegas trails, shooting 45.2 percent from the field. Indiana has totaled the fourth most 3-point field goals made on the season with 328 as Las Vegas trails with 323 made shots from beyond the arc.