Mateo’s Hoop Diary: “We gotta keep the main thing the main thing,”: The Fever took first blood against the Aces

Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston upstaged A’ja Wilson’s MVP coronation, seizing Game 1 in Las Vegas for the Indiana Fever. The visitors were huge underdogs for the series because the Aces had won 18 out of 19 games since Aug. 3, but none of that mattered. Odyssey Sims said both teams were 0-0 at the last practice before the opener, and if anyone wasn’t sure they mean business, pay attention now.

The Fever don’t need Caitlin and the injured Clarkettes to win this series. The Aces are picking poison between Mitchell and Boston, and each one is a lethal dose. Mitchell bends coverages with speed, and Boston does with unmatchable power, but the former was the offensive star of Game 1, carving schemes through the middle for layups and floaters and spraying four 3-pointers. 

Boston took over another way: guarding Wilson and locking her up tighter than a medieval dungeon. It was the most dominant six-point game many will probably ever see. It also exposed how ill-equipped the Aces are when Wilson isn’t on a scoring binge.

Holding the first four-time MVP to an off-night for a consecutive game won’t be easy, but Boston’s close-range detonation is a huge threat that wasn’t relied on in Game 1. The Aces won’t be able to contain her and Mitchell simultaneously.. 

Natasha Howard’s four-for-four start, plus Sims’ third-quarter outburst, were the polish on the gold bricks. Players like them tend to get loose when the defense is keying in on two potent weapons. 

Aces coach Becky Hammon cited a lower level of urgency for her club and said they aren’t capable “when they play like that.”

Fever coach Stephanie White said, “We can’t trip on anything that’s behind us. We can’t look too far forward and too far in front of us because that’s when you start to lose your focus. We try and we’ve talked about it since day one. We gotta keep the main thing the main thing…”

 Game 2 is on Tuesday in Las Vegas and Game 3 is on Friday in Indiana. Game 4 & 5 if necessary would be in Indiana on Sunday and in Las Vegas on Sept. 30.