Caitlin Clark, humiliated by MVP A’ja Wilson in her playoff debut

Brave idol of the masses willing to face the world if necessary, to Caitlin Clark They always look forward to it, like the ones the current champions had. Las Vegas Aces from the four-time MVP A’ja Wilson. Keen to highlight the difference between what is and what can be, Wilson’s Aces subjected the Indiana Fever at home (102-85) in the first game of a first round of the WNBA playoffs that is played in the best of three games.

Wilson, the best player in the world, completely dominated the aspiring player with a resounding MVP declaration of 38 points and 16 rebounds with a colossal 15/19 in field goals compared to Clark’s 15 points and 10 assists with 6/19 in shooting and 3/10 in triples. The 24-year-old star, without free throws, saw his hype and talent eclipsed by the center’s dominance in both attack and defense.

The Aces already eliminated the Fever in the semifinals last year, forcing the fifth game despite their many injuries, including Clark, who missed the entire playoffs.

Wilson deprived the base of its first playoff victory, showing that she is also the best in the world on the other side of the court with 4 plugs, The Indiana star being one of the victims. The Fever closed the regular season with the best attack in WNBA history with an offensive rating of 117 based on that three-headed monster that Indiana has with the trident that Clark forms along with Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston.

However, nothing to combat such an offensive ogre with a strong defense led by the best defender. Boston scored 18 points on 7/12 shooting, with Mitchell having the worst day of the trio with 15 points and a meager 4/16 shooting. The Aces went into halftime up 62-47, taking advantage of the known defensive weakness of the team coached by Stephanie White.

And the Fever’s biggest sin was their fragile defense to realize the main concern of skeptics about Indiana’s candidacy for the ring, since they have entered the title phase with the worst defense of the eight playoff teams with a defensive rating of 109. Up to 18 points for the Aces came after the Fever lost.

Caitlin Clark, with a contorted face, was very clear in her diagnosis of her team’s problems.

“We want to play in transition, but when scoring 102 points it is obviously difficult to fulfill that part. Our defense was not good but at the same time we made it difficult for ourselves, our actions (in attack) were careless, we did not have good shots. But at this time of the year we have to keep shooting, it is what it is,” lamented the point guard, who saw how her touches of magic such as an assist with a pipe remained innocuous.

A’ja Wilson looked well escorted by the other two members of the Las Vegas Aces’ stellar Big Three, Jackie Young with 21 points and 8/14 in shots and Chelsea Gray with 14 points and 4/8 shooting.

Wilson, a three-time WNBA champion, has reason to be especially hungry after missing the World Cup she won that Team USA who suffered so much before Spain in the semifinals and of which Clark was part.

The gifted base needs a rebellion full of magic of its own to tie the series at home in the early hours of Tuesday to Wednesday (00:30) if it does not want to say goodbye early and call into question the champion cast of its team.

The Indiana Fever face a vital test of cotton, threatened by a disconcerting paradox: they could face the Aces in the semifinals last year with a plague of injuries with clark included -they forced the fifth game-, to say goodbye with a devastating 0.