"By now, there's virtually no mystery to the Aces. Their best players now were their best players three years ago. They weaponize continuity, familiarity. If you believed in this team heading into the WNBA Finals against a shiny new Phoenix Mercury team, it was at least partially because they've been here before. What really makes them special, though, is how calmly they navigate places they haven't been. The Aces followed up their 89-86 win in Game 1 Friday night with a more fearsome 91-78 victory Sunday afternoon. They head to Phoenix for Games 3 and 4 with a 2-0 series lead, and with the confidence that they can always find some new way to win."
"When the Mercury kept Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young quiet in Game 1, bench players Jewell Loyd and Dana Evans picked them up with their scoring. In Game 2, Gray and Young repaid the favor. Young scored 32 points, 21 of them in a record-setting third quarter, and Gray played her usual thrilling game on both sides of the ball, timing up steals and no-look passes with precision."
"And if Phoenix's mismatch hunting asks the Aces to switch less, A'ja Wilson won't mind chasing after ballhandlers. "I don't go over screens. I don't go under screens. I'm a big, I don't do that," Wilson said postgame. "But this is a game that I might have to, so I'm going to buckle in and see how I can still be comfortable in my uncomfortable situation.""
The Las Vegas Aces rely on veteran continuity and familiarity, with their best players remaining central contributors. The Aces won Games 1 and 2 of the WNBA Finals, prevailing 89-86 and 91-78 before heading to Phoenix with a 2-0 lead. Bench scoring and starting-player performances alternated between games, with Jewell Loyd and Dana Evans stepping up in Game 1 and Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray excelling in Game 2. Head coach Becky Hammon adjusted tactics midseries, deploying an improvised zone defense despite limited practice. A'ja Wilson demonstrated willingness to adapt defensive techniques to counter Phoenix's mismatch strategies.
Read at Defector
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]