LAS VEGAS -- A'ja Wilson squared up against 2025 all-defensive selection Aliyah Boston late in the first quarter, giving a couple quick dribbles from the perimeter before turning and backing down in the post. The four-time MVP quickly pulled up on the baseline to let loose a fadeaway jumper, while being fouled, as she nearly fell down before regaining her balance. She spun toward the stands with a double fist pump and flexed while veins bulged from her neck as the crowd erupted. The ball barely kissed the rim as it fell through the net.
The defending-champion Las Vegas Aces rolled to a 102-85 victory in Game 1 of the playoff opener against the Indiana Fever on Sunday, and Wilson was back to her record-setting ways.
"Get out the way," Aces point guard Chelsea Gray said when asked about watching Wilson on days like this. "Give her the basketball. ... It's a blessing being able to see this every single day."
Wilson finished with 38 points, 16 rebounds, four blocks, two assists and two steals as she became the first player in any WNBA game -- regular season or postseason -- to record 35 points and 15 rebounds while shooting 75% from the field. That was her second career playoff game with 35 and 15 while the rest of the WNBA has two combined in postseason history. She now has seven consecutive 20-point playoff games to tie for the third-longest streak in league history.
Wilson, of course, acted like it was just another day in the office.
"I don't think I necessarily felt any flow state this game," Wilson said. "Honestly, we were just performing well because we handled what we needed to do on the defensive end. I don't think I had an out-of-body experience.
"I think I just did my job. I did what my teammates are expecting me to do. So, if I'm able to show up consistently for them in whatever way it may look like, then I feel like I did all right."
The Fever have struggled defensively throughout the season, and they had no answer for Wilson. This was her league-record 11th 30-point playoff game, ahead Breanna Stewart's nine. She also extended her WNBA record with her 18th career 20-point double-double. Candace Parker is next with 13.
The variety of Wilson's scoring might have been most impressive. Jumpers from the elbow. Drives to the basket. Offensive-rebound put-backs. Even a pair of triples.
"She understands the stakes always," Aces coach Becky Hammon said. "She was a clinician. She was all over the court everywhere. Defensive end, offensive end, blocks, steals, boards, scoring. I mean, there's nothing she couldn't do tonight."
Wilson certainly was a problem, but she wasn't the only one for Indiana. Jackie Young had her third career playoff double-double with 21 points and 10 assists, and Gray added 14 points and eight assists. The team shot 59.4% from the field, and that trio scored 93 of the Aces' 102 points.
Not only was it an offensive clinic, but Las Vegas also bottled up Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell, who were the highest-scoring twosome in a single season in WNBA history. Clark scored 15 and had a career-playoff high 10 assists while Mitchell added 12 points. The two combined to shoot 10-for-33 from the field.
The three-game series shifts to Indiana for Game 2 on Tuesday.
"Oftentimes, you have to be humbled first, right?" Fever coach Stephanie White said. "I mean, that's life. You don't always learn from the successes, yet you learn from being humbled."