Jackie Young and NaLyssa Smith lead Aces past Fever 84-72 for 2-1 lead in WNBA semifinal series

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jackie Young scored 25 points in her home state, NaLyssa Smith added 16 points against her former team and the Las Vegas Aces beat the short-handed Indiana Fever 84-72 on Friday night in Game 3 of a best-of-five WNBA semifinal series.

The Aces lead 2-1 and would reach their third WNBA Finals in four years with a win Sunday in Indianapolis.

“We just have to get the job done Sunday,” said Young, who played on Las Vegas’ championship teams in 2022 and 2023 and finished her prep career as the Indiana girls’ basketball career scoring leader with 3,268 points. “The job’s not finished yet. Second round, right?”

To achieve its biggest goal, Las Vegas will need A’ja Wilson to shoot better than she did Friday. Wilson opened the game with a 3-pointer, then missed her next 11 shots. The four-time MVP finished with 13 points on 6-of-20 shooting and had eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Chelsea Gray had 15 points and six assists.

Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 21 points and Lexie Hull finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Aliyah Boston had 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Fever, who held a 16-4 edge in offensive rebounds.

The Fever got through the first round of the playoffs and beat Las Vegas in Game 1 despite having lost Caitlin Clark, Sydney Colson, Aari McDonald and Sophie Cunningham to season-ending injuries during the regular season.

Indiana wore down late on Friday, going nearly nine minutes between baskets, a stretch that began late in the third quarter. The Aces took full advantage by scoring eight straight to extend a four-point lead to 71-59 midway through the fourth.

“I thought we got a lot of good shots. Didn’t make a lot of them, you know,” Fever coach Stephanie White said. “We missed some opportunities at the free-throw line and then got a little stagnant. They were still in a good spot, though, because we were still getting stops until about the middle of the fourth quarter.”

Las Vegas controlled most of the first half, scoring the first six points of the second quarter to take a 26-16 lead.

But another boisterous home crowd — and Wilson closing the half with 10 straight misses — buoyed the Fever. Three straight 3-pointers helped Indiana charge back within 35-34 at halftime.

The Fever took their first lead on Boston’s layup to open the second half and led most of the third until the Aces clamped down on defense and pulled away.

“We know how important defense is for us, that’s something that we’ve been really dialed into, something we’ve been focused on,” said Smith, who was traded from Indiana to Dallas during the offseason before landing in Las Vegas. “Defense is like our core focus. When our defense is on, our offense is 10 times better.”

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