By Cassandra Cousineau of LVSportsBiz.com
The Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm have some of world’s premier women basketball players.
Between two of the strongest teams in the WNBA, eight players will soon be Olympians and they were on the floor at the arena inside Mandalay Bay on the Strip Sunday. The Aces and Storm played an overtime thriller and it wasn’t decided until the Aces’ A’ja Wilson hit free throws in the extra session to secure Las Vegas’ 95-92 victory.
Season ticket holders attended the Aces home game, but tickets were still not sold to the general public because of WNBA COVID-19 protocols. The battle, which was a rematch of last season’s bubble championship series, was a game of runs. The Aces took the lead, 83-82, on a Chelsea Gray floater with 1:06 to go. And it was back and forth in overtime.
Aces coach Bill Laimbeer recognized his team’s fatigue at the end of the game. “We need rest. It was a really great game for TV. We had a great crowd today. We didn’t play very well, but we played well enough to get the win. We just played two overtime games against two very good teams. We need a day off.”
The Aces will be sending five players to the Olympics, more than any team in the WNBA: Wilson, Gray and guard Kelsey Plum each will wear the Olympic rings for the first time in their careers. Plum is part of a 3×3 team making its Olympic debut.
In addition, Aces centers Liz Cambage and Ji-Su Park will play for Australia and Korea respectively.
There’s a friendly rivalry between teammates headed into the 2020 delayed Tokyo Games. Wilson said the ribbing has already begun. “Liz was in the locker room saying, ‘I’m going to win a gold medal.’ I was like O.K.”
Team USA is the overwhelming favorite to be crowned.
LVSportsBiz.com asked Laimbeer about how his staff would be handling fatigue and finding rest as the team is focused on making a championship run this season.
“We only focus on the next game at hand which is Los Angeles. The Olympic break won’t bother us on the front end. On the back end I have no clue. We won’t have half of our team to practice which will be kind of interesting,“ Laimbeer said
Also interesting is the new 3×3 format that will include Plum, who missed all of the 2020 season after suffering an achilles injury.
The opportunity to play basketball at all is something the former number one draft pick has a new perspective on. We asked the University of Washington graduate how the time she missed impacted her: “I really am grateful for the opportunity to play. Coming back from injury, I started to miss the game, my teammates, fans, and just being on the court. I’m having a lot of fun now.”
The 3×3 game is played on a half court with a 12-second shot clock and the winner is the first team to score 21 points or to be leading at the end of a 10-minute period. Baskets inside the arc are worth one point and shots outside it are worth two. After the roster was announced this week, Plum spoke to the media. “I want to thank USA Basketball. They could’ve quit on me, Plum said.” They could’ve said, ‘We’re going to bring somebody else,’ and they didn’t. I’m just super grateful to my teammates, I mean, man, this was a battle.”
Before USA Basketball begins practices in Las Vegas, the Aces had to take care of business with the Storm. Gray hit a contested 17 foot jumper with 10.6 sending Aces owner Mark Davis to his feet. Wilson iced the win with two clutch free throws with just .7 seconds remaining on the clock.
The only thing missing were the 8,000 fans who still haven’t been allowed to attend a game at the Michelob Ultra Arena, the former Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Seattle’s Olympian and Finals MVP, Brianna Stewart had a spectacular game in a losing effort. Stewart’s stat sheet included 35 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three blocks. It was the fourth time in WNBA history a player has tallied those marks in a game and the second time this season for Stewart.
The Aces are on the road Wednesday and Friday against the Los Angeles Sparks. The team won’t be home again until July 4 when they take on the Atlanta Dream.