Three teams are locked in for the semifinals of the 2026 WNBA playoffs.
The Las Vegas Aces continued their quest for back-to-back titles by beating the No. 6-seeded Indiana Fever, 94-83, in Game 3 of their first-round series on Thursday, Oct. 1, at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
The Aces will play the winner of the Golden State Valkyries-Dallas Wings Game 3, which will take place on Friday, Oct. 2, in San Francisco. The Atlanta Dream and New York Liberty will face off in the other semifinal. The second round begins on Sunday, Oct. 4.
"I don't want my season to be over. I don't want to go home," Aces forward A'ja Wilson said postgame. "And when you got that mindset in these elimination games, every possession counts. The value of two points
matters. And so I was just trying to send a message to not only the Indiana Fever, but to my teammates … We kept saying, empty the tank, empty the tank. You have to do that on days like this. So that was my tone and my message."
Here are the winners and losers from the Indiana Fever-Las Vegas Aces showdown on Thursday:
Winners
A'ja Wilson overcoming emotional night in Indy
It’s no secret that emotions were high for Wilson at the end of Game 2 at the Fever’s house in Indianapolis, where she confronted a fan late in the loss. The exchange was still bothering Wilson in an uncharacteristically explicit postgame press conference that saw her apologize for costing her team by drawing a technical foul but condemning the fan for pointing and stepping towards her.
There was speculation regarding whether she’d be fined or even suspended for her interaction with the fan, but Wilson took to the court and spurred her team to a victory.
When asked if she used that situation as motivation to score 21 points in the first half on near-perfect shooting en route to 36 points on the night, Wilson credited her support system and a spiritual protection.
“I have my moments because I'm human, but after a while I understood that I didn't want that to be a distraction to myself and to my team, and I knew what we had to do coming into tonight," Wilson said. "So I put it behind me. I prayed a lot, I cried a lot. I talked to a lot of different people. And the amount of love that I received today, the amount of Bible verses I received today, it reminded me that I'm covered.
“So I can't really worry about anything else. And I'm so grateful to be surrounded by people that could constantly lift me up.”
Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray
Chelsea Gray delivered in the clutch, as usual, against the Fever in the close-out game. She scored 11 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter to help the Aces hang on for the victory.
"I thought Chelsea had some super clutch buckets tonight," Aces coach Becky Hammon said. "She's our floor general."
The Aces were dealing with injuries. Starting guard Stephanie Talbot was a late scratch. Because of that, both Gray and Jackie Young played all 40 minutes.
"That's the reason she's the Point Gawd," Wilson said of Gray. "That's the reason she's a champion. This is Chelsea, these are the moments she shines the brightest.
"I remember we were headed into a timeout in the fourth and I was just like, 'Come alive, come alive. This is what you do.' And we are going to ride that 'til the wheels come off."
Aces’ Big 3
After Talbot was a late scratch due to a left leg injury, Hammon knew she’d need a big night from her Big 3 to advance to the semifinals.
“I needed them to go be the Big 3 that I've always known them to be and they deliver in big moments,” Hammon said. “So when we found out about Steph (Talbot), obviously right before the game, I just told them be ready to run 40 (minutes). You're not coming out until you tell me.”
Well, Gray (23 points) and Young (18 points) didn’t come out. They both played the full 40 minutes. Wilson (36 points, 10 rebounds) played 37 minutes. Together, they combined for 77 of the Aces’ 94 points.
“They're called the Big 3 for a reason and I had to ride them tonight,” Hammon said.
Losers
Indiana Fever
The Las Vegas Aces ended the Indiana Fever’s season, yet again. After getting knocked out of the 2025 WNBA semifinals by the Aces in a decisive Game 5, the Fever entered the postseason this year with the highest-scoring team average in league history (96 ppg) and a chance to enact revenge. But the Fever weren’t able to get past the shorthanded Aces.
The Fever’s Big 3 of Kelsey Mitchell (23 points), Aliyah Boston (19 points and 10 rebounds) and Caitlin Clark (18 points and four assists) combined for 60 points, while the rest of the team added 23 points in the loss.
“We were right there and I felt like we probably played a C game,” Clark said after the loss. “That probably hurts, but you know, a lot to be proud of at the same time.”
The Fever exploded for 31 points in the first quarter, but were held to 18 points or less in the next three quarters.
“I thought there was a level of physicality," Fever head coach Stephanie White said. "We couldn't get to the rim. They turned it up a little bit. … And they had 35 free throws, we had 20.”
The Fever left some points on the board. Indiana shot 14-of-20 from the free-throw line, while the Aces were 28-of-35.
Fever 3-point shooting
Indiana was the best 3-point shooting team in the WNBA this season, making 38.5% of its shots from behind the arc.
That changed on Thursday night, when the Fever went 9-for-32 (28%) from 3. Mitchell was the top 3-point shooter in the league this season, hitting them at a 46% clip. The MVP candidate struggled in Game 3, making 3 of 11 from behind the arc. Clark made 3 of 12.
“Some of it is we missed some shots … that we typically make,” White said.
The Aces bench
Hammon was asked postgame about the difficulties of building a roster throughout multiple injuries.
“Nobody wants to deal with that or have that on their plate, but it’s part of (what) we had to deal with this year,” Hammon said.
The coach went on to lament the loss of guard Dana Evans, who has been out with a knee injury but was a major spark off the bench in the 2025 postseason.
Without Evans, the Aces bench only scored six points Thursday – all of which came from forward Cheyenne Parker-Tyus. The only other player to see the court off the bench was Mai Yamamoto, who went scoreless.
The reserve rotation was certainly shortened without starting forward Talbot, who was ruled out before the game with a leg injury. As the Aces prepare for a second-round matchup against the Dallas Wings or Golden State Valkyries, Hammon said she wasn’t sure of Talbot’s status.
Veteran guard Jewell Loyd, usually another option for a burst off the bench, started in Talbot’s place and scored 11 points.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: WNBA playoff winners and losers include Aces' Big 3, Indiana Fever going home
