A historic night from Caitlin Clark bought Indiana exactly one more game. In Las Vegas. New to this story? Here's where it stands. Indiana came into the playoffs as the six seed for a third straight season, then got run off the floor 102-85 in Game 1 at defending champ Las Vegas, with A'ja Wilson scoring 38. That left the Fever one loss from elimination in a best-of-three, heading home with last year's first-round comeback from 0-1 as their only precedent. And then they answered! This is the Indiana Fever Daily Podcast. Today, how Clark and Mitchell flipped it, a rift story Stephanie White wants buried, and whether this lineup's still an experiment. First, the win. Then whether it travels. ABC News, with Michael Marot:
The All-Star guard scored 27 points, had 15 assists, reached another milestone and provided the energy on both ends of the court to help keep the sixth-seeded Indiana Fever's postseason alive with a 99-89 victory over the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces. Kelsey Mitchell added 26 points as the crowd chanted “M-V-P” throughout the game.
Twenty-seven and fifteen, Cera. Fourteen and eleven by halftime! And the part I love is White talking about her defensive energy, because she was a two-way guard last night, full stop. Per CBS Sports, first 25-and-15 game in league history. But look at the rest of the box. Mitchell with 26 and the building chanting M-V-P, Boston with 22. We left this series with Indiana down 0-1 after a 17-point loss in Vegas. Now it's dead even and headed back west. Balanced scoring got them there. And Clark and Mitchell went 10-for-33 in Game 1! That's the swing right there, the two of them going straight at Young and those Vegas guards instead of settling. Okay, but she fouls out late and my heart just stopped. Mine too. Indiana closed out a 99-89 game without her, so the supporting cast can finish. But Thursday in Vegas, if she picks up two early, somebody has to run the offense for real minutes. And the Aces won't make that easy. That Game 1 margin wasn't a fluke. Scott Polacek, writing in Bleacher Report:
Elimination was on the table Tuesday during a pair of Game 2s in the 2026 WNBA playoffs. First, the reigning-champion Las Vegas Aces had an opportunity to eliminate Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever after winning the first contest at home. Then, the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx had their backs against the wall after dropping the first game to the New York Liberty.
Okay, zoom out for a second. The top-seeded Lynx are done. Swept, 2-0, by New York, 87-71 in Game 2. And the No. 6 seed from Indiana is the one still breathing against the reigning champs? Bracket's a mess and I love it. Breathing's the right word. Bleacher Report's recap has Jackie Young going for 31 in Game 2, with Wilson at 22 and nine. Vegas lost that game and still got their numbers from their two best players. Sure, but Young puts up 31 and Indiana still wins by ten? The other end held up. And Clark picks up a tech while they're down double digits early, then goes out and posts the first points-and-assists double-double in a playoff half, ever. That's the response I want. Give her the history. But New York's sitting at home resting while these two go back to Las Vegas for Game 3, and Young dropping 31 in her own building is a whole different problem. Series is 1-1. That's all it is. From Callie Fin at USA TODAY:
After the Aces dominated the Fever, 102-85, in the series-opening game on Sept. 27, fans speculated that White and superstar guard Caitlin Clark were sending shots back and forth like two rappers sneak dissing one another when they addressed reporters in the postgame news conference.
Okay, the 'rift.' People watched a Game 1 presser after a 102-85 loss and decided White and Clark were sneak-dissing each other like a rap beef. Then they go out and win 99-89. Clark's got 27 and 15. Pretty good dysfunction, if that's what it is. Callie Fin at USA TODAY framed it well before tip. The walls in that building say 'We don't do quiet,' and the coach spent Tuesday trying to quiet everything outside it. White chalked it up to social media noise, and she and Clark gave a united answer. And I'll be honest, I don't care about tone at a podium. I care about possessions. The two of them looked on the same page late, and that's what gets you to Game 3. Mostly agree. But the coach-star relationship does matter in Vegas in one very concrete way. Clark fouled out late Tuesday. If she picks up two early, White's the one deciding whether to sit her, and they both have to trust that call. Siddharth Rawat, writing in EssentiallySports:
The biggest issue for the Indiana Fever in Game 1 of the 2026 playoffs wasn’t limited to a single player or a poor stretch; it was an untried lineup, according to one WNBA analyst. As the team went down to the defending champion Las Vegas Aces, she pointed to the team’s strange decision to start searching for answers when their playoff series had already begun.
Rachel DeMita on her Courtside Club show after Game 1: how're you still experimenting? And after a 102-85 loss with a lineup nobody'd seen together? I didn't have a comeback for her. Then Game 2. Clark fouls out late, and whatever five Indiana had out there closed a 99-89 win. You don't get more untried than a lineup without your point guard in an elimination game. Which is exactly why I care about Raven Johnson's bigger role. If Caitlin picks up two early in Vegas, who brings it up? I want that decided before tip, not figured out at the scorer's table. I'd push back on the idea that Game 2 settled anything. Mitchell's 26 and Boston's 22 covered up a lot of rotation questions, and they'll need that kind of balance again on the road, against the team that won Game 1 by seventeen. Great. So DeMita gets a Game 3 rerun either way. Have feedback, story ideas, or a correction? Email us at indianafeverdailyfancast at lantern podcasts dot com. We'd love to hear what you think and what you want covered next.
We're watching for Thursday's winner-take-all Game 3, with the Fever visiting the Aces on Oct. 1 at 9 p.m. ET at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, with national coverage on USA. Links to every story are in the show notes, so check out the ones you want to dig into. That's Indiana Fever Daily Podcast for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.