Fever, Aces square off looking for bounce-back performances

Caitlin Clark's rough night in her third game back from a quad injury was hardly the only issue for the Indiana Fever on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, a night later, A'ja Wilson's return from a concussion resulted in another loss for the Las Vegas Aces.

Two teams seeking bounce-back performances get together Sunday afternoon when the Fever visit the Aces, who are attempting to avoid a fourth straight loss.

Indiana (6-6) is 2-1 since Clark returned from missing five games with a quad injury. Clark scored 32 during her return on June 14 against the New York Liberty and finished with 20 in a 17-point win over the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday.

On Thursday, the Fever could not hold on to their nine-point first-quarter lead and were handed an 88-77 loss at the expansion Golden State Valkyries. Clark tied her season low with 11 points, shot 3-of-14 from the field and missed all seven of her 3-point attempts.

Indiana particularly struggled in the fourth quarter, getting outscored 33-18, and the Fever were outscored 50-33 after halftime.

"It's not about Caitlin, specifically," Indiana guard Kelsey Mitchell said. "Our entire group was soft. They made us pay by being stronger, by being tougher. Fifty-fifty balls, deflections, getting in the passing lanes. We allowed it. We kind of tucked our tail tonight on the aggression side and that's our downfall right now."

The Aces were outscored by a combined 27 points in their three losses to the Phoenix Mercury, Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm. Las Vegas has dropped five of its past six games after getting off to a 4-2 start.

Wilson returned from her concussion and collected 20 points and 14 rebounds in 34 minutes but also committed seven turnovers. Jackie Young led the Aces with 22 points, but Las Vegas was outscored 52-38 after halftime.

"I feel good. I just gotta honestly start putting the ball in the hoop and stop giving it away to the other team," Wilson said. "That's unacceptable on my end, so I gotta be better on Sunday."

-- Field Level Media