The Las Vegas Aces have been one of the best teams in the WNBA throughout the past few seasons. 2025 has presented challenges for the team, however, as the Aces have hovered around the .500 mark. On Thursday, Las Vegas was unable to earn a win against the Indiana Fever despite Caitlin Clark being out with an injury. The Fever defeated the Aces 80-70 as Las Vegas was handed another difficult loss.
Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 21 points. Natasha Howard added 18 points and 13 rebounds in a stellar effort, while Sophie Cunningham also contributed 15 points. Aliyah Boston turned in a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double as well.
It was a tremendous performance by the Fever. Clark does not have a timeline for an injury return, so Indiana is attempting to stay afloat without the star guard. The Fever certainly impressed at home on Thursday.
The same cannot be said for the Aces.
A'ja Wilson led the way with 20 points. She turned the ball over five times, however. Jackie Young played well with 19 points and NaLyssa Smith recorded a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double, but Las Vegas did not receive much more help. As a team, they shot 40.3 percent from the field and a truly abysmal 13.3 percent from beyond the arc. Your chances of winning are always going to drastically decrease when you only connect on two of 15 three-point attempts.
Meanwhile, the Fever made 11 of 23 long-range attempts, good for a strong 47.8 percent. The fact that they shot the ball that well without Clark -- who is one of the better three-point shooters in the league despite her 2025 struggles -- is a quality feat.
Las Vegas is trying to find their footing. The Aces will likely still be a postseason team, but this does not look like the same championship-caliber squad of previous seasons. Of course, Las Vegas earned back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023. In 2024, the Aces reached the WNBA semifinals.
Anything could happen in the postseason, but right now it's difficult to imagine them getting out of the first round of a potential playoff series. The good news is that it is only July, so there is plenty of time for the Aces to turn things around and build important momentum.
Las Vegas will try to get back into the win column on Friday night against the Minnesota Lynx at 7:30 PM EST.