Caitlin Clark’s Season Ends in Las Vegas as Fever Fall in Game 3 Despite Bloodied Effort

The Indiana Fever’s season came to a close Thursday night with a 94-83 loss to the defending champion Las Vegas Aces in the decisive Game 3 of their playoff series.

A’ja Wilson led all scorers with 36 points for Las Vegas, including 21 in the first half. Indiana stayed within single digits for most of the fourth quarter but could not close the gap in the final minutes.

Caitlin Clark finished with 18 points on 6-of-18 shooting. With 3:16 left in the game and the Fever trailing 82-77, Clark took an elbow to the face from Las Vegas guard Jewell Loyd that left her mouth bleeding. She returned to the court quickly afterward, pushing back against attempts by head coach Stephanie White and game officials to have her come out of the game.

Across the three-game series, Clark averaged 20.0 points, 9.7 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game. It followed a regular season in which she averaged 22.3 points, 8.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game in her third year in the league. She has yet to win a playoff series as a professional.

Wilson’s Game 2 incident still a storyline

Heading into Game 3, attention had been focused on an incident involving Wilson in Game 2, when she stepped over the sideline to confront a fan in the stands. The WNBA did not suspend or eject her over the incident.

Asked about it before Game 3, Aces coach Becky Hammon defended her star player.

“I think you saw A’ja get pushed and shoved and there was no response. So there just comes a certain point where a lot of variables come into the exchange that happened the other night,” Hammon said. “I stand 10 toes down with the character of A’ja Wilson. And it’s like if someone said, ‘hey, your brother went and did something.’ Like, no, I know the person in the situation, so I trust that person in any situation. And she’ll be great tonight. I have no doubt.”

Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, who may have played her final game for Indiana, scored five points on 2-of-4 shooting in 24 minutes. Cunningham drew attention this season for comments she made off the court.

The Fever finished the regular season 28-16 as the sixth seed before being eliminated by the Aces.