3 takeaways from Aces’ loss: 3rd-quarter woes reappear against Fever

The path was different, but the Aces revisited the same old mistakes in an 80-70 loss to the Indiana Fever — who played without star Caitlin Clark — on Thursday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

After leading 41-35 at halftime, the Aces couldn’t overcome a five-point deficit in the final 90 seconds.

The loss ended the Aces’ first three-game win streak of the season after they beat the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday in their return from the WNBA All-Star break.

“It’s unfortunate,” coach Becky Hammon said afterward. “We definitely gave that one away.”

Reigning MVP A’ja Wilson scored 20 points, guard Jackie Young added 19 and forward NaLyssa Smith had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Aces (12-12).

All of them found themselves on the bench for most of the first quarter as Hammon pulled out every starter just four minutes into the game in response to a 12-4 run from the Fever.

She was trying not to repeat recent history, which saw the Aces fall to the Clark-less Fever in an “unprofessional” 81-54 blowout on July 3.

The first-quarter adjustment proved temporarily effective. The Aces closed the first quarter on a 10-2 run to tie the score at 18-all, then closed the second quarter on a 12-2 run to enter halftime with a 41-35 lead.

It all fell apart in the third quarter, though, as Indiana outscored the Aces 27-15. Even though the Aces came within five points of the Fever’s lead in the game’s final 90 seconds, they couldn’t fight all the way back.

Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever (13-12) with 21 points as Clark watched from the sideline for her 11th missed game of the year. She was ruled out on Wednesday with a right groin injury.

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

1. Playoff implications

It was the final regular-season meeting between the teams, giving Indiana a 2-1 edge and the tiebreaker over the Aces for potential postseason seeding.

The Fever and Aces are neighbors in the WNBA standings, with Indiana in sixth place while the Aces hold the No. 7 spot.

If the two teams have the same record at the end of the season, Indiana will finish above Las Vegas in a playoff picture that includes the top eight teams in the league regardless of conference.

“We try to not finish with the same record. Let’s start there. Hopefully we finish a game or two ahead of them,” Hammon said of the team’s mindset. “Playoffs is a different animal. I like my group. I like the experience. So we go out and play. It doesn’t matter who, whether it’s Indiana or whoever, we’re always trying to learn and grow from our process.”

2. Third-quarter struggles

Although Hammon called her first-quarter fire drill a “little attention grab” that enabled the second unit to play better defense than the starters displayed, there was no such answer in the third quarter.

Fever forward Natasha Howard said in her walk-off broadcast interview that coach Stephanie White motivated her team by telling them not to “play soft.”

From Young’s vantage point, that shift was the key.

“They got aggressive in the second half — came out aggressive. We were on our heels a little bit,” she said. “I think that was the biggest thing.”

But third quarter woes have been a consistent theme all season, and the Aces might have been able to overcome that issue if they’d had a better shooting night.

They were a dismal 2 of 15 from the 3-point line, making their fewest shots from beyond the arc and tying their fewest attempts from deep this season.

“I think at the end of the day, we need to just shoot the wide-open 3s that they’re giving us. We’re hesitating,” Young said. “Coach gives us the green light. We just have to make the right read. … They’re daring us to shoot it. And we have great shooters on this team. We just have to have that confidence.”

3. Embattled Aces back Friday

Wilson only played in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter, meaning the Aces withstood some of the Fever’s most crucial late runs without their best player on the floor.

Hammon said she made the decision with Friday’s game at the league-leading Minnesota Lynx in mind.

“I thought the group that we had out there was competing, trying to get her rest as much as possible,” Hammon said. “We have another game tomorrow.”

Wilson sustained a right wrist sprain in a loss to the Liberty on July 8 and missed one game with the injury. She previously missed three games with a concussion she sustained against the Los Angeles Sparks in June.

She isn’t the only key Ace battling injury, as Young went down with a groin injury in the Aces’ win over the Dallas Wings before the All-Star break but returned Tuesday.

Hammon said Young is a “trooper” for playing through the pain.

“It’s a long season,” Young said. “I’m obviously banged up right now, but we can’t use that as an excuse.”

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.