WNBA playoffs: A’ja Wilson pours in 36 as Aces oust bloodied Caitlin Clark and Fever

A’ja Wilson made sure her basketball spoke for itself Thursday night, as the four-time WNBA MVP scored 36 points to lead the defending champion Las Vegas Aces to a 94-83 victory over the Indiana Fever in the deciding Game 3 of the first round.

The third-seeded Aces, who have won three of the past four titles, moved on to play the winner of the Golden State-Dallas series, which will be decided Friday night in San Francisco.

This is the second year in a row Las Vegas have ended the season for Caitlin Clark and the Fever, who were seeded sixth. The teams met in the semifinals a year ago, with the Aces pulling out an overtime victory in the finale of the five-game series.

Wilson bookended this series with sensational performances in Games 1 and 3, making sure her verbal confrontation with a Fever fan Tuesday in Indianapolis wouldn’t be the enduring memory. The league did not punish Wilson, who opened the series with 38 points and 16 rebounds and followed up in this game by making 11 of 18 shots and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Teammate Chelsea Gray added 23 points and Jackie Young scored 18.

Clark scored 11 points in the first quarter but was held to seven the rest of the game. Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 23 points and Aliyah Boston had 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Tensions ran high again Thursday, with both teams bringing the physical play expected when each season is on the line in a game that had the intensity of a WNBA finals.

Clark briefly left the court after taking an accidental elbow to the mouth from Loyd while the two contested a rebound with just over three minutes remaining. No foul was called on the play, which appeared to knock one of Clark’s teeth out and left her bleeding from the mouth with Las Vegas leading 82-77.

The Indiana star returned before play resumed and showed an official her bloody mouth while protesting the no-call. She remained in the game as the Aces pulled away in the closing minutes.

Earlier, Clark and Las Vegas’ Brianna Turner each picked up a technical foul just more than three minutes in The Fever were huddling on the court when Turner worked her way into the group, only to be shoved out by Clark.

Early in the second quarter, Indiana coach Stephanie White was called for a technical while arguing that Turner brought down Lexie Hull, who instead picked up the foul.

The Aces threatened to run away from Indiana in the third quarter, taking a 67-55 lead before going cold over the final 4:32 and making just one shot. The Fever twice cut their deficit to two points in the fourth to make Las Vegas sweat out the ending.

Aces forward Stephanie Talbot, who started all but one game this season, did not play because of a leg injury and was replaced by Jewell Loyd, who scored 11 points. Talbot averaged 8.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in the first two games of the series.