Aces set to do battle with resilient Indiana Fever in semifinals

With their 74-73 victory over the Seattle Storm on Thursday, the Las Vegas Aces officially locked in the first series of the semifinals.

Starting on Sunday, the Aces will face off in a best-of-five series against the sixth-seeded Indiana Fever with a spot in the WNBA Finals on the line.

The Fever are certainly a formidable opponent, earning their spot in a hard-earned series victory over the Atlanta Dream. Despite being the lower seed, the Fever sent their opponent packing with a 87-85 win on the road. What awaits the Aces is a deep, well-coached outfit that has proven that they will be a tough out.

Here are three storylines worth paying attention to as the series gets underway.

Feels like someone’s missing

Fever guard Caitlin Clark is ineligible to play this postseason due to not being on the official roster, but that has clearly not been an issue for her team.

Guard Kelsey Mitchell has picked up the mantle as the player to watch for the Fever, finishing third in the league in scoring with 20.2 points per game. The three-time All-Star is also devastating from behind the arc, scoring 111 three-pointers to lead the league in that category while shooting at a 39.4% clip. The Fever have three other players scoring double-digit points per game (Aliyah Boston, Natasha Howard, Odyssey Sims), and both Lexie Hull and Aerial Powers have had impactful moments for the Fever as well.

That is a lot of potential threats for the Aces to keep track of, so they will have to be careful not to stretch themselves too thin defensively.

Settling the score

Heading into the series, the Aces will be looking to get some revenge against a Fever squad that bested them in the regular season series.

The Aces took home the win in the first game between the two, besting the Fever 89-81 on June 22. Indiana would get the jump in the next two games, however, crushing the Aces 81-54 on July 3 and defeating them again 80-70 on July 24. Since then, the Aces went on a dazzling 17-game winning streak and have serious momentum on their side, and they will be hoping that the emotional high of their Game Three victory can be a driving force to turn the tide this time around.

Bragging rights

Two former first overall picks. Two of the best players to ever come out of Dawn Staley’s talent factory at the University of South Carolina. Now, they must do battle and aim to end each other’s seasons.

While the Fever have Boston, the Aces have A’ja Wilson at their side. Wilson, who won a share of Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday and is a favorite to win her league-record fourth MVP award, has emerged as the greatest women’s basketball player of all time, which automatically makes the Aces a difficult challenge. This is before getting into the other weapons the Aces have, from fellow champions Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray to new faces such as Jewell Loyd and NaLyssa Smith.

They have clear championship aspirations, which could make Boston and the Fever that much eager to knock them off their perch.