Fever vs. Aces: Kelsey Mitchell's 27 Leads Indiana to First Regular-Season Win at Las Vegas

Eleven straight regular-season games in Nevada, 11 straight losses. For the Indiana Fever, Las Vegas had been the kind of casino that takes your money, comps you a buffet and sends you home smiling politely. On Sunday, they finally beat the house.

Kelsey Mitchell scored 27 points, Aliyah Boston added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Indiana stomped the Las Vegas Aces 84-68 at T-Mobile Arena for the franchise's first regular-season win at Las Vegas. Two of the biggest names in the sport never touched the floor. Caitlin Clark was held out with a back injury, and A'ja Wilson missed her third straight game with an ankle injury, so each team was missing an All-Star starter and the supporting casts got the whole stage.

A Coin Flip for 24 Minutes

For a long time it looked like these two short-handed teams would just trade punches until somebody got tired. There were 12 lead changes. Las Vegas took a 24-23 edge after one, with Mitchell and Monique Billings doing most of Indiana's early scoring. Lexie Hull's jumper beat the halftime buzzer and gave the Fever a 42-41 lead, and neither side had done much to separate.

Then the third quarter happened, and Indiana's shooters showed up all at once. Boston, Sophie Cunningham and Mitchell each knocked down a three in a 9-2 burst that made it 56-49. Las Vegas scored to make it 56-51. Mitchell then got fouled on a three and calmly sank all three free throws, followed that with a three-point play, and Raven Johnson finished a layup to complete an 8-0 run. In about a minute, a five-point game was 64-51.

The Fever took a 68-55 lead into the fourth, winning the quarter 26-14. The Aces never got it back under double digits. Indiana's lead peaked at 18, and the closing minutes were more of a victory lap than a contest, with Mitchell going 4 for 4 at the line over the final four minutes and Cunningham draining a 26-footer for good measure.

Mitchell Keeps Doing Mitchell Things

Mitchell's shooting line wasn't pretty on its face, at 7 of 18 from the field and 3 of 9 from three. It didn't matter, because she went 10 of 12 at the line, made Las Vegas pay for every bit of contact, and finished a game-best plus-18. Eleven of her points came in that decisive third quarter.

The Fever's game notes turned up a couple of nice nuggets, too. This was her third straight game with at least 25 points, tying a franchise record that she and Tamika Catchings already shared. It was also her 35th straight double-digit regular-season game, dating to Aug. 5, 2025, now second-longest in team history and two shy of tying Catchings at 37.

Boston might have been the more impressive player. She went 7 of 13, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked two shots, and she stepped out to make 3 of 4 from three, tying her single-game high. That made six double-doubles this season and 47 for her career. A post player who can step out and do that is a matchup problem with no real solution.

The supporting cast did the rest. Hull had 10 points, four rebounds and two steals. Cunningham knocked down three triples for nine points and went plus-13 in 21 minutes. Johnson had six points and six rebounds, and Tyasha Harris dished out five assists in her second straight start without committing a turnover.

For Las Vegas, the offense never quite found a replacement for its franchise star. Jackie Young led the way with 15 but turned it over five times. Jewell Loyd scored 12 on 3-of-9 shooting, and Chelsea Gray had 10 points and six assists while going 2 of 11 from the field. NaLyssa Smith grabbed 10 rebounds to go with nine points. Before tipoff, coach Becky Hammon suggested that a playoff game would likely have seen Wilson suit up, and that's the right context here. Sunday wasn't that game. The Aces looked like they knew it.

The Third Quarter Is Where It Broke

If you want one stat for Indiana's win, take the 26-14 third quarter. If you want one sequence, take that 8-0 run. Mitchell's three free throws and three-point play came within about a minute, and Las Vegas, which had just cut it to five, suddenly looked like a team running on fumes. Up to that point the Aces had been right there, trading the lead a dozen times with a team playing without its own star. Once the Fever got a little breathing room, nobody on the Aces could go get a bucket and stop it.

Stats That Matter

• 39-30: Indiana's rebounding edge, including 13 offensive boards against six for Las Vegas.
• 7: Fever turnovers, against 13 for the Aces, and Indiana scored 13 points off those giveaways.
• 9-4: Made threes, in favor of Indiana.
• 68: Points allowed, the fewest by the Fever this season and the fewest since a 65-point night against Washington on Sept. 7, 2025.
• +18: Mitchell's plus-minus, the best on the floor.

What It Means

Indiana moves to 12-8 and 4-4 on the road, with a second straight win after beating Los Angeles. The Fever's previous win over the Aces in Las Vegas came in the 2025 WNBA Semifinals, so this was a regular-season hex getting broken, not the first win ever in the city. They head to Los Angeles for a Wednesday game next.

Las Vegas falls to 15-6 and 6-4 at home. Both stars are expected back soon, with Clark having returned to practice this week, and each was picked to start in the July 25 All-Star Game in Chicago. The Aces also get back to it fast, with a Thursday trip to Portland.

Ocean's Twelfth

Every good Vegas story ends with the same rule: the house always wins. Except that once in a while somebody walks in with a good plan, a calm hand and a guard who won't miss when you foul her. Indiana lost 11 straight regular-season games in this city, then walked out with a 16-point win and without its biggest star. Call it the heist that didn't need a Clooney.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press. Team notes from the Indiana Fever's game recap.