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Story by Cassandra Cousineau and Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
Poor Phoenix Mercury. Their best players were out again for Game 2 against the top-seeded Las Vegas Aces in the Best-of-3 WNBA first round playoffs.
And the Aces finally put number eight-seeded Phoenix out of its misery with a 117-80 win at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob Ultra Arena Saturday evening. The Aces announced attendance at 9,126 — a loud crowd for an arena where capacity is about 10,000.
The Aces advance to play the Seattle-Washington winner in the playoffs’ second round after Aces made 23 three-pointers — a WNBA record for the playoffs and regular season.
Aces/Raiders owner Mark Davis stayed in Las Vegas to watch the WNBA team polish off the Mercury, while his Raiders defeated the Miami Dolphins, 15-13, in South Florida Saturday. For what it’s worth, the Raiders are three-for-three in preseason games with wins over Jacksonville, Minnesota and Miami. They play New England in an exhibition game at Allegiant Stadium Friday.
If there’s one thing Aces coach Becky Hammon can’t stand, it’s lack of focus on defense.
“It all starts with defense. If we can’t get it done on that end of the court, we’re going to have a hard time reaching our goal,” she said before the game.
She ripped into her team at the end of the first quarter so intensely that she needed to step out of the huddle and let her words sit with Aces starters. Phoenix dropped 30 points on the Aces in the first quarter and trailed by only four points after the first 10 minutes.
The Aces responded slowly. Mercury guard Diamond DeShields lit up the Aces for 19 points in the first half. As a team, the hampered and grossly under-womanned Mercury managed to put up 44 points to the Aces’ 63 by halftime. The Mercury didn’t have Diana Taurasi, Shey Peddy, Kia Nurse and Skylar Diggins-Smith. And star center Brittney Griner was being detained illegally in Russia.
Phoenix coach Vanessa Nygaard put things in perspective: “As tough as this season was, it’s not even close to what BG is going through being held in a Russian jail.”
The Aces’ Chelsea Gray has been here before though.
Having won a championship with the Los Angeles Sparks, Gray and her experience are one of the reasons she’s such an asset to Las Vegas. Gray is a WNBA champion, an All-Star, and Olympic gold medalist. Still, what matters most to her is the success of her team as a result of what she contributes.
“It’s all about what you can do for the person next to you. With playoff basketball, all individual accolades go out the window,” Gray said
Gray backed up her words by dishing out a game high eight assists. Hammon liked that the Aces had 31 assists for the game. Noted Gray, “We need to play team ball. This year, most of us have been on the team together for at least one season. We know each other better, and aren’t just learning on the fly.”
She continued, “Good things can happen when we play for each other.”
Gray scored 27 points to lead the Aces, while Kelsey Plum scored 22. A’ja Wilson scored 17 and Jackie Young chipped in with 15.
It was not much of a competitive game.
The Aces led, 93-59, after three quarters and it was garbage time the rest of the way as Las Vegas piled up 117 points against the poor Mercury club.
Hammon seemed more satisfied with her team’s work in the second half as she sat in the middle of the huddle, drawing up plays instead of pacing in disgust like she did after the first quarter.
Right now as a team, we’re playing our best basketball — Aces guard Chelsea Gray
And satisfied fans left the arena waiting to see who the Aces will play in the next round of the WNBA playoffs.
Hammon gave an update on injured Aces players Iliana Rupert and Kiah Stokes: “With a week to rest they should be good to go.” Dearica Hamby did not play with an injured knee.
After struggling at home during a low stretch in the middle of the season, the Aces have won seven straight at home, including these two games against Phoenix this week. You might recall that the Mercury eliminated the Aces last year here in Las Vegas in the semis Game 5 before Chicago knocked out Phoenix in the Finals to win the 2021 title.