The defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces face first-round elimination in a winner-take-all Game 3 against the Indiana Fever on Thursday, having lost a drama-filled Game 2 thanks to huge performances from Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, and Aaliyah Boston.

Clark led the way Tuesday with 27 points, 15 assists and seven rebounds before fouling out with 2:45 remaining in the fourth quarter, making 9 of 18 attempts from the field overall and 5 of 11 from 3-point range.

Mitchell added 26 points that included making 3 of 4 attempts from deep and 9 of 11 from the free throw line. Boston tallied 22 points, five assists and four rebounds.

Although rookie guard Raven Johnson (six points) wasn't a big factor offensively for the sixth-seeded Fever in Game 2, she was indispensable defensively. Her efforts during her 22 minutes off the bench stifled the Aces' backcourt, which was reflected in her plus-15 plus-minus rating that matched Clark for the game high.

"It starts in practice," Johnson said. "That's all they talk about is defense, defense, defense, defense. There's not a day you don't hear about defense. I think when we go back to film and we see it, they should be very proud of us, because I think everybody was on it. We were scrambling."

The third-seeded Aces, on the other hand, registered a far less complete effort than Sunday's dominant 102-85 victory in Game 1. Likely WNBA Most Valuable Player A'ja Wilson finished with 22 points, but the team's poor finish to the first half followed by uncharacteristically passive play in the third quarter was too much to overcome.

Wilson expressed frustration with 4:10 left in the fourth quarter after Sophie Cunningham was whistled for a foul trying to draw a charge from Wilson. When a Fever fan stood up to point and yell in Wilson's direction, she walked into the second row and yelled at the man who had been pulled back into his seat by his companion.

After arena security and Las Vegas players intervened, Wilson returned to the court and was given a technical foul. The Fever led by 11 at that point and the Aces didn't get closer than five the rest of the way.

The Fever issued a statement about the incident: "Following a report of a comment directed toward a player, arena security spoke with the fan involved and witnesses. Security determined there was no violation of the Fan Code of Conduct, the fan was not removed from the arena. We consider the matter closed."

The Aces' Jackie Young led all scorers with 31 points to go with five assists and four rebounds.

Chelsea Gray was the only other Aces player to reach double figures. She tallied 10 points while dishing out a team-high seven assists.

The loss ended a run of eight straight wins that dated back to Aug. 20. Now, the hottest team in the league during the last month of the regular season and the last team standing three of the last four seasons might bow out in the first round.

"We'll rely heavily on (our pedigree)," said Aces coach Becky Hammon. "(Indiana) has come through. That's who they are. That's who they've been. But we've got to come in with a better mindset. So much of this is a mental game and a mental focus. I thought they had the mental edge, the sense of urgency that's necessary in these types of situations and in these environments. We have to have that."

--Field Level Media

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