Las Vegas took the series opener from Indiana 102-85, and the thing that decided it was not shotmaking. It was the defense. That is the whole Indiana Fever playoff news in one line: the Aces got locked in on that end, forced Indiana into the kind of possessions nobody wants in late September, and the scoring took care of itself from there.

Seventeen points in a playoff opener is not a bad night. It is a message.

The same morning delivered the honors, and they landed in two directions. A'ja Wilson picked up her third straight AP Player of the Year, with the wire crediting her as Las Vegas's leading scorer in the postseason at 38 points. Three in a row is not a hot streak anymore, that is a residency. Checked the almanac: Cynthia Cooper took Finals MVP in all four of Houston's championships from 1997 through 2000, back when the league was four years old and one player kept refusing to let anyone else have the trophy. Different award, same feeling. Somebody decides the era is theirs and then just keeps proving it.

On the other side of the ledger, Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell were both named AP All-WNBA First Team. Two First Teamers on a club that just lost by 17 tells you the talent is real and the margins in a playoff series are unforgiving. Indiana's problem in the opener was not who they have. It was what they were allowed to run.

The other first-round pairing has its own wrinkle. Golden State went into their series against Dallas having never lost to them in the regular season, a perfect head-to-head. Those records are lovely and they are also fragile. Playoff Dallas has one job now: make the Valkyries beat them a different way than they did all summer.

What comes next is quick. Indiana hosts Las Vegas on Tuesday at 6:40 ET, where the Fever have to solve a defense that just took away everything they like. Golden State is at Dallas on Wednesday at 9:00 ET with that unbeaten head-to-head sitting on the table like a dare.

What I'm watching: whether Indiana can get Clark and Mitchell clean looks in rhythm, or whether Las Vegas makes them earn every single one again.