Story by Cassandra Cousineau Photos by RJ Forbus
After Mark Davis’ Raiders were demolished in Buffalo, his Las Vegas Aces fared much better in Las Vegas Sunday when the defending WNBA champs buried an out-talented Chicago Sky squad to clinch the first round series and move on to the league semifinals for a fifth consecutive season.
The Aces blasted the Sky, 92-70, after Chicago made a nice run to start the fourth quarter. The Aces’ lead was actually cut to less than 10 points in the fourth.
But then Aces coach Becky Hammon put two-time league MVP A’ja Wilson back in the lineup midway through the final quarter and Las Vegas put the outcome to bed before Wilson was hit in the eye on a missed shot and had to take a seat on the bench to recover.
Wilson looked OK after the game in a post-game TV interview in the nationally-televised game on the ABC network.
“I’m fine,” Wilson said when asked about how she was feeling. “I got popped in my eye, but I got back up and this six days rest well be good for my body. It would be good for all of us.”
Wilson scored 38 points, breaking the franchise record held by her coach, Hammon.
After being told Wilson passed Hammon for most points scored in a playoff game in franchise history, Hammon laughed, “ Somebody should’ve told me. I would’ve pulled her out early.”
Hammon did put Wilson back in in the final quarter, after all.
“I just know that if we play Aces basketball we can be successful. It’s never about the other team. It’s always Aces versus Aces for me. It was a good team win,” Wilson said in her post-game press conference interview.
Attendance was announced at 9,000 even.
The top-seeded Aces easily controlled the best-of-3 first round match against the eighth-seeded Sky. Chicago never led in the two games both won by the Aces on their home floor at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob Ultra Arena.
The Aces play the Dallas/Atlanta winner in the semis, which is a best-of-5. Many expect the Aces to play the New York Liberty in the WNBA Final in a matchup of the league’s two “super teams.”
Jackie Young added 15 points, with Alysha Clark scoring 14. Kelsey Plum had 10 points.
The Aces have six days of rest until Game 1 of the WNBA semis start next Sunday.