Fever's grit, Ogwumike cold shooting

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One side of the WNBA semifinal bracket is locked in. The Las Vegas Aces will face the Indiana Fever beginning Sunday.

The Fever stunned the Atlanta Dream by scoring the final seven points to win 87-85 on Thursday in College Park, Georgia. Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 24 points.

“Kelsey puts us on her back a lot,” Fever coach Stephanie White said. “We run her ragged, but she’s so dangerous in those ball screens. … She makes the right plays, she makes the right reads. You put the ball in her hands to make plays for us and she’s been able to do that.”

A’ja Wilson and Aces staved off the upset-minded Storm, 74-73, on Thursday in Las Vegas. Wilson had 38 points and Jackie Young, who finished with 14 points, hit the game-winner with 12.4 seconds remaining.

The Minnesota Lynx, who punched their ticket to the semis on Wednesday, await the winner of the New York Liberty-Phoenix Mercury game Friday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

Here are the winners and losers from Thursday’s first-round games:

Winners

Down but never out Indiana Fever

The Indiana Fever are a gritty, resilient group of players who do not quit. They walked into Atlanta with everything on the line and walked out with a stunning two-point win, 87-85. They did not lead until the final seven seconds of the game. Aliyah Boston made the go-ahead basket and Lexie Hull slammed the door shut with a back-breaking steal in the closing seconds. They move on to the semifinals after winning their first playoff series in a decade.

Las Vegas Aces MVP candidate A’ja Wilson

A’ja Wilson is the best player on the planet.

This isn’t a commentary on the MVP race. Whether Wilson wins her fourth MVP award or not, there’s still no one better. Just look at the game she had against the Seattle Storm to lift the Las Vegas Aces to the WNBA semifinals for a seventh consecutive season.

Wilson matched her career playoff high with 38 points. She had 11 in the fourth quarter alone as the Aces survived a furious rally from the Storm.

“Tonight it didn’t matter who guarded her. She was on a heater,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said.

But what sets Wilson apart is that she doesn’t need to be shooting to hurt you. She had five rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks while committing one turnover.

“At some point, A’ja just took over the game,” Hammon said.

Caitlin Clark’s black Air Force 1s

Caitlin Clark may not have been able to play in Game 2, but she clearly tried to influence her teammates with her shoe game. Clark, who is out with a right groin injury, wore black Nike Air Force 1 sneakers. The shoes exude toughness.

“I fear you mean business,” Aliyah Boston joked before Game 2. “Black Forces?! Them (refs) better watch out.”

Ever a superstitious type, after the Fever won Game 2, Clark wore same outfit and Air Force 1s for Game 3. After the Fever upset the Dream, they celebrated the shoes on the court.

Stephanie White’s chess move

Down five, White subbed in veteran Shey Peddy around the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter. Peddy immediately came in and sank a massive 3-point shot to pull the Fever within two. Peddy immediately changed the energy in the game, and moments later, she caused a deflection. It was a small moment, but huge in the grand scheme of the Fever’s comeback that helped extend their season.

Pace, pace, pace

It would be amazing if we knew just how much ground (in feet) players at this game covered. Everyone was flying up and down the court at Gateway Center Arena from opening tip to the end. There were five lead changes in the first quarter alone. It was a very visible difference in the first two games. Atlanta dictated the pace early, but Indiana answered right back, and the teams just traded basket after basket. It was gorgeous basketball.

Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young

Jackie Young made A’ja Wilson look good.

A few days ago, Wilson was talking Young up, saying the Aces don’t win without her. Now Las Vegas is moving on to the WNBA semifinals because of Young.

Young saw that Wilson’s layup attempt with just under 25 seconds left was a little off target. She knew the ball was either going to bounce in or fall to the right, and she positioned herself perfectly to snatch the ball when it came off the rim.

Young caught and shot in one motion, and the bucket put Las Vegas up 74-73 with 12 seconds left.

Young finished with 14 points, second to Wilson, two rebounds, one assist and four steals.

“Her work ethic, the way she approaches the game — you want someone like that in the locker room,” Wilson said. “Let’s not forget who Jackie Young is and why we drafted her and how she’s evolved into this perfect two-way player.

“We don’t do anything without Jackie Young, and it’s going to continue to be that way.”

WNBA fans

The rest of the WNBA playoffs has a lot to live up to.

The first round of any playoffs can be a crapshoot, the gaps between seeds creating the potential for blowouts. But with few exceptions, the first round this year has been tremendous.

Consider that:

Three of the four series went all three games, and the Minnesota Lynx had to dig themselves out of a hole to beat the Golden State Valkyries in two.The three deciding games so far – the New York Liberty are at the Phoenix Mercury on Friday night to close out the first round – were won by a combined four points.The Indiana Fever stunned the Atlanta Dream on Thursday night to advance to the semifinals.

It’s been wild, it’s been chaotic, it’s been stressful. Most of all, it’s been a whole lot of fun.

More of this, please.

Losers

Also WNBA fans

The only complaint with this fantastic first round is that it isn’t long enough.

The WNBA has outgrown the best-of-three format for the quarterfinals. The closely contested games and impressive individual performances (we see you, Napheesa Collier and A’ja Wilson) are all the argument you need for the league going to a best-of-five format.

“I think you go best-of-five if you’re not going back to the old format,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said, referring to the lower seed hosting the first two games in previous years. “This setup, I prefer a five-game series.”

Wouldn’t we all.

Nneka Ogwumike’s cold shooting

This was a most inopportune time for Nneka Ogwumike to have a poor shooting night.

The Seattle Storm veteran matched Erica Wheeler with a team-high 16 points. But Ogwumike was just 4 of 13 from the floor against the Aces. She missed her first six shots and didn’t have her first field goal until midway through the third quarter.

Even with Ogwumike’s cold hands, Seattle was in it until the very end. The Storm had the lead twice in the last 93 seconds, and Erica Wheeler’s last-second shot bounced off the rim.

But imagine if Ogwumike had made even half the shots she missed. It would be Seattle moving on, not Las Vegas.

Atlanta Dream’s foul trouble

Because of their aggression on both sides of the ball, Atlanta found itself in foul trouble quickly. Three players in the starting lineup — guard Allisha Gray and forwards Naz Hillmon and Bri Jones — had two fouls each before the end of the first quarter. Gray had three just before the half. What’s more, there were six players with at least one foul by halftime for a total of 11 personal fouls, and Indiana had 16 attempts at the line as they headed to the locker room. The Fever finished with 24 free throw attempts to the Dream’s 11.

Atlanta’s offense in the second half

After scoring 56 in the first half, the Dream only scored 29 points in the second half, including just 12 in the fourth quarter. The ball movement got very stagnant. Atlanta also had 14 turnovers (which produced 15 Indiana points) due to the Fever’s defensive pressure and shot an ugly 33 percent in the fourth quarter.

Two double-doubles aren’t enough

Atlanta’s backcourt was fantastic but it wasn’t enough to get the Dream to the next round. Allisha Gray put up 19 points and 12 rebounds. Jordin Canada added her own double-double with 18 points and 10 assists. That’s one of the best performances the Dream’s backcourt has put together all season, and if not for the two of them, the Dream’s night might have been much harder.

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