Monster Crowd of 20,366 Packs T-Mobile Arena For Tuesday’s Aces Vs Indiana Fever Game; One Of Biggest Crowds In Arena History; Aces Win, 88-69, Behind Plum’s 34 Points, A’ja With 28
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Story by Alan Snel and Cassandra Cousineau Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
The Las Vegas Aces vs Indiana Fever game drew a massive T-Mobile Arena crowd of 20,366 fans Tuesday — one of the biggest sports crowds for an event at the arena that opened in April 2016 just off the Strip. It was the fifth biggest crowd for an WNBA game and most attended league game since 1999.
The Aces won their fifth straight game after a 6-6 start, with Kelsey Plum pouring in 34 points, while leading MVP candidate A’ja Wilson adding 28. The 11-6 Aces play the Washington Mystics Thursday on Independence Day.
Tonight’s Aces-Fever game was moved by the Las Vegas club from its Michelob Ultra Arena home court (about 10,000 capacity) because of ticket demand to see the two-time defending WNBA champs take on the Fever and Clark, the WNBA’s overall number one draft pick who is part of a rookie class igniting more attendance and higher TV ratings in 2024.
“At the end of the day it’s great basketball,” Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon said of the big crowd. “It’s growing like crazy because it’s a great product.”
The crowd included many Indiana, Iowa and Clark fans who made the journey to Las Vegas. And celebrities like Vivica A. Fox, Marshawn Lynch and Logan Thompson also had courtside seats. Shannon Sharpe made it to the game, too.
This is the home of the NHL Vegas Golden Knights. But T-Mobile Arena routinely gets converted for basketball games in the fall when college hoops games are held. The arena also hosted the NBA’s in-season tournament semifinals and final in fall 2023.
Midway through the first quarter: Aces led the Fever, 11-9.
By halftime, the Aces had built a nine-point lead, 46-37.
The Aces controlled the second half against an improved Fever team that never led in the final 20 minutes as Plum and Wilson led the way. Both mixed in effective drives to the hoop, while adding a nice outside touch to their scoring prowess.
They credited the return of point guard Chelsea Gray five games ago as a stabilizing influence on the team. As the Aces’ court general, Gray allows the Aces’ powerful scoring attack led by Wilson, Plum and Jackie Young to click well, with players returning to their normal roles on the court.
Aces/Raiders owner Mark Davis and Raiders players like Aidan O’Connell were also in the house tonight.
Clark’s running mate at Iowa — the Aces’ Kate Martin — also drew loud cheers when she entered the name off the bench. The Aces announced that Martin’s number 20 jersey had arrived for fans to purchase.
“A lot of people came here to see Kate Martin and Megan Gustafson tonight, too,” Plum said.
After three quarters, the Aces led, 65-59. Wilson and Plum each scored 22 points going into the fourth quarter.
The Aces pulled away in the fourth quarter, winning by 19.
