Fever Open Playoffs at Las Vegas After Slipping to No. 6 Seed
The short version
- Indiana finished 0-0 reset: Fever are the No. 6 seed and open the playoffs at defending champion Las Vegas
- Indiana set league records with 96 ppg, 20 games of 100-plus points and 4,222 total points
- Kelsey Mitchell (24.7 ppg) and Caitlin Clark (22.3 ppg) rank second and third in WNBA scoring
- Las Vegas has won three of the last four titles; Indiana won the season series 2-1
- Game 1: Sunday, 4:00 PM EDT in Las Vegas on ABC; Game 2 Wednesday in Indianapolis
Indiana finished the regular season with a loss to Minnesota and now faces the defending champion Aces on the road, with Game 1 set for Sunday in Las Vegas.
The Indiana Fever enter the WNBA playoffs as the No. 6 seed and will open on the road against the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces, starting Sunday in Las Vegas. Indiana dropped an 86-66 decision to top-seeded Minnesota on the final day of the regular season, and combined with other results around the league, the loss pushed the Fever to the sixth seed for the third consecutive year after expectations they could land a top-four spot.
Despite the seeding disappointment, the Fever own the league's most productive offense. They averaged 96 points per game over their 44-game schedule, scored at least 100 points in 20 games to shatter the previous record of 11, and totaled 4,222 points — nearly 200 more than the second-place Aces (4,025).
The backcourt drives that attack. Kelsey Mitchell averaged 24.7 points, second in the WNBA, in her return from a rhabdomyolysis condition that ended her 2025 postseason in Game 5 of the semifinals. Caitlin Clark averaged 22.3 points, third in the league, after soft tissue injuries limited her to 13 games last season. Clark said after the finale that everyone's record resets to 0-0 heading into the playoffs.
Indiana's final regular-season game was uncharacteristically cold. The Fever shot a season-worst 34.3 percent from the field and posted a season-low 66 points, though the bench played out the fourth quarter. Center Aliyah Boston left in the second half of the Minnesota game with a lower leg injury flare-up. Coach Stephanie White framed the poor shooting night as upside, saying the team would flush it and begin preparing for Las Vegas.
Las Vegas presents a formidable first-round opponent. The Aces have won three WNBA titles in the past four years, including last season's deciding Game 5 semifinal victory over an injury-hit Indiana roster in which Clark, Mitchell and Boston were not on the floor in overtime. Center A'ja Wilson led the league at 26.2 points per game and is in line for a fifth MVP award, teaming with Jackie Young on the league's second-best offense at 91.5 points per game.
Indiana won the season series 2-1, with the lone defeat coming on a buzzer-beating basket in overtime. The schedule does the Fever no favors: after Sunday's opener in Las Vegas, Game 2 is Wednesday in Indianapolis, with an if-necessary Game 3 returning to Las Vegas on Friday.
The Fever have played the entire season under outsized attention. They were the only WNBA team with every regular-season game televised nationally and have regularly drawn more than 1 million viewers per game. White publicly criticized an online community she accused of divisiveness and attempting to hijack the league, while the franchise's awards campaign leaned into the attention with the tagline "We don't do quiet." Second-year forward Makayla Timpson, who moved into the starting lineup for the final 13 regular-season games, said everybody is watching because the team's games are broadcast everywhere.
Elsewhere in the playoff bracket, the Golden State Valkyries secured the No. 2 seed by completing a 16-point comeback against Los Angeles in the final 64 seconds of the season, a result that led to the Sparks parting with second-year coach Lynne Roberts. Golden State, which allows an average of 75.1 points per game, would be Indiana's second-round opponent if the Fever advance, pitting the league's best offense against its best defense.
Game 1 tips off Sunday, September 27 at 4:00 PM EDT from Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, with coverage on ABC.
Games to watch
