Aces left with serious questions after disappointing Game One loss

LAS VEGAS—This was far from the outcome that the Las Vegas Aces wanted to start the semifinals off with.

On Sunday, the Aces dropped Game One of their semifinal series to the Indiana Fever 89-73 at Michelob ULTRA Arena.

With the Fever now holding a 1-0 series lead on the Aces, the second seed has some soul searching to do. They have dropped one game at home and will now have to do the same at least once in Indiana to return to the Finals. However, the Fever have made it painfully apparent that they will not go down without a fight.

Here are a couple of storylines as to what went down in the defeat, as well as where the Aces go from here to get back in the series.

MVP doing MVP things

A’ja Wilson was presented the MVP trophy prior to the game, and she showed why she is deserving to be the WNBA’s first four-time recipient of the honor.

By the time the first half was over, Wilson had already secured a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds after the first 20 minutes. Despite an inefficient performance (six-for 22 on field goal tries), Wilson was still able to make an impact with 16 points and 13 rebounds for the game. However, it was not enough to help get the Aces to victory in the end.

Mitchell takes over

Despite Wilson’s best efforts, the Fever had the best player on the court in MVP finalist Kelsey Mitchell.

Mitchell was a force on both sides of the court for the Fever. Her impact was most felt with a game-high 34 points, but she also added three assists and two steals for her team’s cause. It is clear to the Aces that they must make an emphasis on defending her in this series, lest they want to suffer another agonizing defeat.

Now what?

In order to prevent the Fever from stealing both games on the road and putting the Aces in an early 2-0 hole, they have to find some aspects to build off of.

The Aces were at least able to match the Fever in terms of depth scoring; Jackie Young lead the Aces on offense with 19 points, and Chelsea Gray and Dana Evans scored double-digit points as well. The team was also aggressive on the glass by picking up eight offensive rebounds, as well as landing three blocks in the game. However, the Fever were definitely the more efficient team on offense and took better advantage on the Aces’ mistakes.

While there are some issues needing to be cleaned up, the Aces do at least have some parts of the game that can be used to build for a better effort next time around.

The Aces now look to get some redemption on the Fever in what has become a pivotal Game Two on Sept. 23.