Keep track of the winner-take-all WNBA semifinal playoff finale between the Indiana Fever and Las Vegas Aces.
What happens in Vegas will hardly be contained on Tuesday night.
Amidst an eventful day on the WNBA ledgers, a spot in the championship finale will be decided in Sin City: with their best-of-five set knotted at two games apiece, the Indiana Fever and Las Vegas Aces face a winner-take-all finale in their semifinal set staged at Michelob Ultra Arena. The winner of Tuesday’s game will face the Phoenix Mercury in the first-ever best-of-seven WNBA Finals, which get underway on Friday night.
Seeking its first Finals showing since 2015, the Fever kept its hopes alive with a 90-83 triumph in Game 4 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse over the weekend. Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston united for 49 points, keeping up their incredible work in the wake of missing talent like Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, and Aari McDonald.
Their output was enough to counter yet another sterling showing from newly-reinstalled MVP A’ja Wilson, who fell one rebound short of a double-double while scoring 31 points. Las Vegas is seeking its fourth Finals appearance of the decade, having fallen to Seattle in 2020’s Bradenton bubble before defeating Connecticut and New York in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Keep track of all the action below, with live updates commencing after tip-off.
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2nd Quarter:
4:00—Gray scores off the stepback from Wilson but fouls Sims on the other end. Sims hits two for yet another tie (38-38)
4:25—Mitchell gets on the bord for the first time in the period with a three, shortly after a lack of foul call (36-36)
4:36—Wilson gets Boston to leap in the paint and easily puts into after some friendly fire takes Mitchell and Sims out of the play (36-33 LVA)
5:05—Back on the line after an Aerial Powers foul, Wilson hits one of two (34-33 LVA)
5:16—Another offensive rebound and another Vegas foul puts Boston at the line. Smith’s third forces Gustafson’s re-entry. Boston hits one-of-two to tie the game (33-33)
5:42—Wilson goes back to the line after Boston’s first foul. She hits one of two (33-32 LVA)
5:56—A Young foul is Vegas’ fifth of the period and her second. Sims hits two freebies to tie the game (32-32)
6:07—Gray shakes off Peddy for a banked jumper that puts Vegas back ahead (32-30 LVA)
6:46—Tie game again after Wilson scores when she gets two foul shots after hauling in a Young misfire (30-30)
7:20—A Smith foul is already Las Vegas’ fourth of the period. The next puts Indiana in the bonus.
7:30—Sims scores again, shortly after Boston and Gray return from short rests (30-28 IND)
7:57—Sims goes down hard on a Gray foul and hits one of two at the line. (28-28)
8:05—Young’s double puts Vegas back ahead shortly after a Sims jumper (28-27 LVA)
9:17—Dana Evans swipes the lead back with a triple (26-25 LVA)
9:36—A driving Hull double opens second period scoring and breaks the tie (25-23 IND)
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1st Quarter: Fever 23, Aces 23
0.0—Reserves end the opening period in scoring, as Gustafson and Brianna Turner exchange doubles to finish it off (23-23)
31.9—Indiana ties the game with the Peddy three and two single from Hull (21-21)
1:00—Following a Hull turnover, Wilson puts the Aces up by two possessions with a pull-up jumper (21-16 LVA)
1:39—On the other side, Megan Gustafson sinks a high-percent triple to somewhat expand on the Aces’ lead. (19-16 LVA)
1:57—Smith is charged with a foul on Mitchell as the latter is driving. Vegas challenges the call to no avail, and the foul remains. Mitchell makes one of two to tie the game (16-16)
2:10—Young hits the Aces’ first three of the night to give them the lead back (16-15 LVA)
2:32—Wilson ties the game off a savvy feed from Dana Evans (15-13 IND))
3:48—Entering after the timeout, Shey Pedey drives forward for go-ahead double (13-11 IND)
4:12—With a floater, Wilson ties the game up (11-11)
4:27—Mitchell hits the first three of the night off, you guessed it, a second opportunity. Shortly after getting her own rebound after a miss, she sinks a different one to force Las Vegas into a timeout (11-9 IND).
6:10—A minute after entry (replacing Bell), Jewell Loyd is called for knocking down Hull at the top of the key. It’s reviewed for an upgrade but the call stands.
6:20—With the shot clock dying, Gray finds Smith for a savvy double. Smith is fouled by Howard in the process and sinks the lone free throw to give Las Vegas its first lead of the night (9-8 LVA)
6:42—Mitchell shoots the game’s first free throws with Wilson charged for the foul. She hits both to get the lead back (8-6 IND)
6:51—A one-legged driving bank for Young ties the game (6-6)
7:40—Boston once against scores via second chance before Young responds with a pullup double on the other end (6-4 IND)
8:21—After consecutive turnovers for Sims, Wilson gets Las Vegas on the board with a driving double (4-2 IND)
9:02—Following a missed Smith jumper, Howard repeats the second chance opportunity to make it an early two-possession game (4-0 IND)
9:36—After a miss, Boston gets her own rebound and backs down Wilson for two (2-0 IND)
10:00—Boston wins the tip from Smith, and Game 5 is underway
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Pregame
What: Indiana Fever @ Las Vegas Aces, WNBA Semifinals, Game 5 (Series tied 2-2)
Where: Michelob Ultra Arena, Las Vegas, NV
Watch: 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Who’s Favored: LVA -7.5
Starting Lineups
FEVER: Aliyah Boston, Natasha Howard, Lexie Hull, Kelsey Mitchell, Odyssey Sims
ACES: Kierstan Bell, Chelsa Gray, NaLyssa Smith, A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags