Story by Cassandra Cousineau and Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
This time, the Las Vegas Aces did not blow a big lead against the Chicago Sky.
The Aces enjoyed a double-digit lead over the Sky for most of the second half and polished off the defending champs, 89-78 before an announced crowd of 6,055.
The Aces and Sky are both 25-10 and the Aces can clinch the playoff’s top seed with a win over a formidable Seattle Storm team on Sunday at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob Ultra Arena.
Kelsey Plum led the way with 25 points, while Jackie Young poured in 22. A’ja Wilson has 12 points and Riquna Williams came off the bench to add a vital dozen points, too.
“We’re starting to really build some trust,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said after the win. “One night it’s Chelsea, one night it’s Kelsey, tonight it was Jackie.”
It was a loud crowd that included Gov. Steve Sisolak, Aces/Raiders owner Mark Davis, boxer Floyd Mayweather, Raiders team president Sandra Douglass and Kyle Lowry, the NBA player.
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The Aces built a nice lead after each quarter — 27-16 after the first, 47-33 at the half, 71-61 after three and they kept the Sky at bay in the final quarter for the 11-point win.
Hammon has to do something she wasn’t comfortable with at the beginning of the 2022 season– trust her bench with Dearica Hamby out with an injured knee.
Her bench isn’t particularly deep with Hamby, the two-time Sixth Woman of the Year, expected to miss the next 2-4 weeks due to that knee bone contusion. Hamby suffered the right leg injury during the Aces’ 97-90 win against the Atlanta Dream two nights ago.
“Being in tight games has helped our resiliency,” Hammon said after the win.
“We’re just trying to put some pieces in there that fit,” Hammon said. “Come time to face (Elena) Delle Donne and (Breanna) Stewart, we will have to get more creative.”
Thank you, Giggy, of the Aces:
As a reminder, the WNBA has reformatted its playoff system for the 2022 season. Replacing the much maligned first-round bye, the WNBA will seed every team and each club will play in the first round. The league will feature a standard bracket format with the No. 1 seed vs. the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed vs. the No. 7 seed, the No. 3 seed vs. the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed vs. the No. 5 seed.
Continuing with the standard bracket formula, the first-round matchups will be best-of-three series, with the higher seed playing Games 1 and 2 at home, and the lower seed hosting Game 3.
Teams moving on to the semifinals and finals will play best-of-five series with a 2-2-1 format, giving higher seeds home court advantage for games 1, 2 and 5.
“At the end of the day we still ain’t won shit,” Hammon said.
The Aces have a season final game Sunday against the Storm. Win and the Aces garner the top seed.
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