The 2025 WNBA Semifinals begin this Sunday, Sept. 21, when the No. 6-seed Indiana Fever take on the No. 2-seed Las Vegas Aces. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast nationally on ABC.
Both the Fever and Aces are coming off thrilling, last-minute victories in the first round. Indiana upset the No. 3-seed Atlanta Dream in three games, bouncing back from a series-opening loss and stunning the Dream at home with timely plays from Aliyah Boston and Lexie Hull.
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The Aces, meanwhile, were taken to the brink by the No. 7-seed Seattle Storm, who dealt the Aces their first loss since early August and threatened to steal the series decider in Las Vegas. A massive performance from A’ja Wilson (38 points) and a clutch tip-in by Jackie Young, however, ensured the Aces’ survival.
Can the inexperienced Fever continue their improbable run, or will the Aces take care of business on their home court? Here’s what we’ll be watching for on Sunday from each team as they look to take one more step towards the WNBA Finals.
Resilience and clutch plays are defining the Fever’s postseason
The Fever may not have had the kind of regular season they’d hoped for, but they’ve ended up where they wanted to be all the same. Though Indiana has suffered injury after injury–Caitlin Clark, Aari McDonald, Sydney Colson and Sophie Cunningham are all out for the season–the players who have remained healthy have shown remarkable resilience, most recently ousting the higher-seeded Dream to advance to the semifinals.
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In a way, it’s that resilience that has defined the latter portion of the Fever’s season. They’ve gone from a team bearing championship expectations to one that had scrapped to simply stay above .500, but every time the Fever looked like they were about to cave under pressure, they’ve found a way to stay alive. A timely bucket here, an offensive rebound there; Indiana hasn’t often won convincingly, but in the playoffs, the manner of said winning is irrelevant.
It’s not like the Fever have simply gotten extraordinarily lucky, either. They still have plenty of talent: All-Stars Boston and Kelsey Mitchell are both playing arguably the best basketball of their WNBA careers, and while neither player had much playoff experience prior to this season, both have looked like grizzled veterans during the Fever’s current run. Boston put up 14 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in Indiana’s series-deciding win over Atlanta, while Mitchell averaged a team-high 23.3 points per game in the first round. Players like Hull, Natasha Howard and Odyssey Sims have complemented the talents of the team’s stars well; Indiana is rarely a one- or two-player show, and the Fever finding that balance has been crucial.
Can the Fever keep their momentum going up against a team with considerably more experience? It’s been a decade since Indiana has gotten this far in the playoffs, while the Aces are in their fifth-consecutive semifinals. The Fever have done an admirable job of blocking out the noise thus far, and it’s worth noting that they went 2-1 against Las Vegas during the regular season; that was before the Aces caught fire to win 17-consecutive games, however, and they’ll be at an additional disadvantage due to starting the series on the road.
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The Aces seek another semifinals win to keep their dynasty alive
It’s hard to believe that the Aces’ 2025 season had once been in danger. Like the Fever, they had hovered around .500 for a disappointingly long time—but we all know what happened next.
One massive winning streak and first-round series win later, the Aces are looking once again like a championship contender. That’s not much of a surprise; as mentioned above, they’ve made five-consecutive WNBA semifinals and won titles in 2022 and 2023, so seeing them back here again was more or less expected, especially after their remarkable course correction.
To state the obvious: As long as the Aces have Wilson, they’re going to be a threat. The three-time MVP set the bar impossibly high in 2024, yet has somehow raised it once more, averaging 26.1 points, 12 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game during the Aces’ winning streak and dropping a playoff career-high 38 points in their series-clinching win over Seattle. She was recently named Defensive Player of the Year for the third time in her career (this time sharing the award with Minnesota’s Alanna Smith) and seems to be a favorite to win an unprecedented fourth MVP award.
For all of Wilson’s greatness, though, the Aces are at their best when they’re getting contributions elsewhere. Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young remain one of the most gifted backcourt tandems in the WNBA, with Gray’s wizardry with the basketball and Young’s three-level scoring naturally complementing Wilson’s dominance in the paint. When all three are clicking at the same time, there are few teams that can match the Aces’ firepower.
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While the Aces will probably go as far as their household names take them, their retooled depth has also played a role in their return to form. Former WNBA scoring champ Jewell Loyd has been reborn as a 3-point specialist coming off the team’s bench, while NaLyssa Smith shot a career-high 55.6 percent from the floor after being acquired by the Aces in a midseason trade. Opponents are used to loading up against Wilson, Gray and Young, but with players like Loyd and Smith filling the rest of the gaps on the floor, the Aces become even more difficult to guard.
Game information
No. 6-seed Indiana Fever (0-0) vs. No. 2-seed Las Vegas Aces (0-0)
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When: Sunday, Sept. 21 at 3 p.m. ET
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Where: Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, NV
