Wilson Closes Clark’s Season for a Second Straight October

A’ja Wilson scored 36 points on Thursday as the Las Vegas Aces beat the Indiana Fever 94-83 in Game 3 and ended Caitlin Clark’s season for a second straight year.

Last October, Wilson closed the same club with 35 points in an overtime Game 5 while Clark sat injured. This time Clark played all three games, won one, and still went home in a best-of-three.

A 36-Point Night in a Sold-Out Arena

Michelob Ultra Arena was a sellout for the decider, and the four-time WNBA MVP treated it like work she had done before. Wilson went 11 of 18 from the field, 2 of 3 from three, and 12 of 15 at the line, adding 10 rebounds and two blocks in 37 minutes. She had 21 by halftime. The Aces, the No. 3 seed and defending champions, took the series 2-1 and moved into a ninth-year wait that is now an eighth straight trip to the semifinals.

Her 36 points are the fourth most in a winner-take-all game in WNBA postseason history, and the night was her 12th career 30-point playoff game, a league record. It was also her 28th playoff double-double, which moved her alone into second all-time on that list. The official Game 3 closeout recap put the fan exchange from Tuesday in Indianapolis where Wilson wanted it, on the shelf.

The league did not add discipline after that Game 2 technical. Wilson said she did not use the noise as fuel.

I don’t want my season to be over. I don’t want to go home. 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.

A’ja Wilson, Aces forward, postgame after Game 3

She also said she prayed a lot and cried a lot between Tuesday and Thursday, then put the exchange on the back burner. Chelsea Gray scored 23. Jackie Young scored 18 with eight rebounds and seven assists. Jewell Loyd, in the starting five because Stephanie Talbot sat with a left leg injury, added 11 on three made threes. Talbot had averaged 8.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in the first two games.

Last Year’s Closeout Came in Overtime, Without Clark

The 2025 meeting was a best-of-five semifinal, and Indiana, already stripped by injuries, still dragged Las Vegas into the first Game 5 overtime in WNBA semis history. Clark was on the injury list with Sophie Cunningham. Kelsey Mitchell left that night with severe leg cramping. Aliyah Boston fouled out with 27.1 seconds left in regulation. Odyssey Sims still tied it twice in the last minute, at 84 and then again after Young’s free throws, before the Aces scored 21 in overtime and won 107-98.

Wilson had 35 that night. Young had 32 and a playoff career-high 10 assists. Gray scored 17, eight in overtime. Becky Hammon, the Aces’ coach, said the Fever would just not go away. Last year’s overtime Game 5 recap is the first chapter of the same October story, written when Clark could not get on the floor.

TWO OCTOBERS AGAINST INDIANA

1. Sept. 30, 2025: Aces win Game 5 of the semifinals 107-98 in overtime, take the series 3-2, and send a shorthanded Fever home. Wilson scores 35. Clark does not play.
2. Sept. 27, 2026: Aces take Game 1 of a best-of-three 102-85 behind Wilson’s 38 points, 16 rebounds, and four blocks.
3. Sept. 29, 2026: Fever even it 99-89 in Indianapolis. Clark posts 27 points and 15 assists, her first playoff win.
4. Oct. 1, 2026: Aces close it 94-83 in Las Vegas. Wilson scores 36 and 10. Clark finishes with 18.

Las Vegas has won three of the past four titles. The constant in both of these Indiana endings is Wilson in a game that ends someone’s season.

Why Clark’s First Playoff Win Was Not Enough

Clark’s 2026 first-round line is the full version of a series the 2025 injury never let her play. She had 15 points and 10 assists in the Game 1 blowout, then 27 points, 15 assists, and seven rebounds in Game 2 on 9 of 18 shooting and 5 of 11 from three. That Game 2 was the first 25-point, 15-assist night in WNBA playoff history, and it was her first playoff win. She fouled out with 2:45 left and Indiana still closed it.

The Aces-Fever playoff series log now shows a 2-1 Las Vegas win around that one Fever night. Game 3 went the other way from the opening minutes. Clark scored 11 in the first quarter and seven the rest of the night, finishing 6 of 18 and 3 of 12 from three, with four assists, six turnovers, and four blocks in 37 minutes. Mitchell led Indiana with 23 on 7 of 23 shooting. Boston had 19 and 10. Myisha Hines-Allen had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

THE THREE-GAME SERIES

Across the three games Wilson averaged 32.0 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks on 31 of 48 shooting, 64.6 percent. Clark totaled 60 points and 29 assists. Clark’s WNBA playoff game log still has only one win in it. The physical tone never cooled. Clark and Brianna Turner each picked up a technical a little more than three minutes in, after Turner walked into an Indiana huddle and Clark shoved her out. Stephanie White, Indiana’s coach, got one of her own in the second quarter arguing a foul on Lexie Hull.

Forty Minutes for Gray and Young

Talbot’s absence forced Hammon into a short rotation she did not hide. She told Gray and Young to be ready to run 40, and she meant it. Both played the full 40 minutes. Wilson played 37 and stayed in after her fifth foul with 4:11 left in the fourth. Hammon said she needed them to go be the big three she has always known, and that she had to ride them.

WHAT THE BIG THREE CARRIED

• Wilson: 36 points and 10 rebounds, 12 of 15 at the line, one turnover, plus-12.
• Gray: 23 points on 8 of 15 shooting, 6 of 6 free throws, five assists, plus-11, including a pullup with 1:25 left that made it a six-point game again.
• Young: 18 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, 6 of 6 at the line, plus-11, also on the floor the entire night.

Together they scored 77 of Las Vegas’s 94 points. Wilson said those late possessions are when Gray shines the brightest. Hammon called Gray’s buckets clutch. After Indiana had pulled within two, the Aces closed on a 12-3 run. The third quarter had already shown the other side of that nerve. Las Vegas led 67-55 during the period, then went cold over the final 4:32 and made one shot. The quarter ended 70-65. Indiana cut the gap to two twice in the fourth, and Las Vegas still walked out with an 11-point win.

Asked after the game whether this Fever group reminded her of her young 2022 Aces, Hammon said no. Wilson, sitting next to her, laughed.

Indiana Won the Paint and Lost at the Line

The Fever did not lose because they could not get downhill. The official Game 3 box score shows Indiana scored 36 points in the paint to Las Vegas’s 22 and 12 second-chance points to 2. The Aces grabbed two offensive rebounds all night. Indiana shot 9 of 32 from three, 28.1 percent. The math that ended the season lived at the stripe.

GAME 3, SIDE BY SIDE

• Free throws: Aces 28 of 35 (80 percent), Fever 14 of 20 (70 percent).
• Paint: Fever 36, Aces 22.
• Second chance: Fever 12, Aces 2.
• Threes: Aces 8 of 20 (40 percent), Fever 9 of 32 (28.1 percent).

Wilson took 15 free throws by herself. Gray and Young went 12 of 12. Across the series Wilson attempted 35 free throws and made 30. That is the edge a first-round defense has to solve against her, and Indiana never did, not in the 102-85 opener when she went 15 of 19 from the field and not in the closeout when she lived on the line again. The Fever finished 28-16 as the No. 6 seed. Clark averaged 22.3 points in the regular season. None of that traveled through two Wilson closeout nights in the same building, a year apart.

Wilson’s other line after the win was the one that will follow every club that beats Las Vegas before October. Regular season’s cute, she said. Everyone can come see us. This is the moment they live for.

Who the Aces Play Next Depends on Friday

The No. 2 Golden State Valkyries and No. 7 Dallas Wings play Game 3 on Friday, Oct. 2, in San Francisco. If Golden State wins, Las Vegas opens the best-of-five semifinals on the road. If Dallas wins, the Aces host Games 1 and 2. Game 1 is Sunday, Oct. 4. The other semifinal is Atlanta against New York.

Aces regular-season record was 31-13. They are still the club that has won three of the past four titles, and they are still the club that has now ended Indiana’s year two Octobers in a row, once with Clark in street clothes and once with her on the floor for 37 minutes in a winner-take-all game. Wilson already had the 35-point overtime closeout on the ledger. She added 36 on Thursday and sent the same opponent home again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Caitlin Clark Play in the 2025 WNBA Playoffs?

No. Clark played 13 regular-season games for Indiana in 2025 and was on the injury list, with Sophie Cunningham, when the Fever met Las Vegas in the semifinals. The 2026 first round was her first playoff series against the Aces and only her second WNBA postseason.

What Was the Attendance for Aces-Fever Game 3?

Michelob Ultra Arena drew a sellout of 10,388 on Oct. 1, 2026. Game 1 in the same building on Sept. 27 was also a sellout, at 10,207.

How Many 35-Point Playoff Games Does A’ja Wilson Have?

Five, which ties the WNBA playoff mark for the most such games. Thursday was one of them. She also holds the record for 30-point playoff games with 12 after this closeout.

What Were Caitlin Clark’s Other WNBA Playoff Games?

Clark’s only playoff series before 2026 was a 2024 first-round sweep by the Connecticut Sun. She scored 11 points in Game 1 and 25 in Game 2, both losses, so Thursday was her fifth career playoff game and still left her with one win.

Who Won the 2025 WNBA Championship?

Las Vegas beat the Phoenix Mercury in the 2025 Finals after that overtime Game 5 against Indiana. The Aces also won the title in 2022 and 2023, which is why Thursday’s win was a step toward a fourth championship in five seasons.