Aces Win in OT Thriller over Fever, Advance to Finals

Read Time:2 Minute, 49 Second

LAS VEGAS — A championship pedigree showed its grit, but the Las Vegas Aces will not soon forget the team that pushed them to the brink. In a semifinal series finale that defied all expectations, the Aces survived an absolute scare, outlasting the Indiana Fever 107-98 in a heart-stopping overtime classic to punch their ticket to the WNBA Finals.

This Game 5 was a spectacle, less a decisive victory for the favored Aces and more a testament to the sheer, unyielding spirit of the battered Fever. Decimated by a season-long string of injuries that would cripple most teams—and which grew more cruel with another star’s mid-game exit—Indiana turned an elimination game into an epic showcase of competitive fire.

The Duel of the Decades

The night belonged to a pair of Aces who refused to let their third consecutive Finals appearance slip away: A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young. The superstar duo delivered a historic performance, becoming the first pair of teammates in WNBA playoff history to each score over 30 points in the same game.

Wilson, the former MVP, was simply unguardable, racking up a monstrous line of 35 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, and 4 blocks. Her dominance on both ends of the floor was the only thing keeping the Fever from burying the Aces during moments of uncertainty.

But it was Jackie Young who answered the bell time and time again. The Indiana native dropped 32 points and dished out a playoff career-high 10 assists, weaving through the relentless Fever defense and hitting clutch shot after clutch shot to keep the home team afloat.

The Unbreakable Fever

Yet, what made the victory so hard-fought was the sheer resiliency of the Fever. The underdogs, playing without several key contributors, found themselves in a crisis midway through the third quarter when star guard Kelsey Mitchell went down with an apparent leg injury. With Mitchell out—who was leading the team with 15 points at the time—the Aces finally seemed poised to coast.

Indiana refused to fold.

Spearheaded by the spectacular play of Odyssey Sims (who finished with a playoff career-high 27 points) and a dominant glass-cleaning effort from Aliyah Boston (11 points, 16 rebounds), the Fever clawed back from an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit. Sims hit a breathtaking layup with 22.5 seconds left to send the winner-take-all game to only the second overtime in WNBA Game 5 history.

Chelsea Gray’s Overtime Ignition

In the extra period, it was the battle-tested veterans of Las Vegas who took over. After a nervous end to regulation, point guard Chelsea Gray—who had been battling through an ankle injury herself—provided the ignition the Aces needed. Gray and Jewell Loyd combined to score the Aces’ first 13 points of overtime, with Gray hitting a desperate three-pointer to beat the shot clock that was the final, definitive dagger.

For the Aces, the 107-98 victory was a cathartic sigh of relief, sending them on to face the Phoenix Mercury for the championship. For the Indiana Fever, the loss was a heartbreaker, but their season, defined by perseverance and grit, cemented their status as a team on the verge of greatness. They may have lost the game, but they earned the league’s respect in an unforgettable season and a memorable postseason.