LAS VEGAS – Becky Hammon held her thumb and forefinger almost together Sunday before WNBA Finals Game 2, saying that’s how close Game 1 was to being a “different conversation” other than the Las Vegas Aces leading the best-of-7 series.
But after Game 2, a 91-78 Aces win for a 2-0 series lead, the distance between them and the Phoenix Mercury felt like the 300 miles between the two desert cities.
The Aces turned a three-point deficit at the end of the first quarter into a nine-point halftime lead at sold-out Michelob Ultra Arena. Then Jackie Young made sure there would be no Mercury comeback, erupting for 21 points in the third quarter to set a Finals single-quarter record.
The Mercury drew no closer than eight points in the second half and trailed by as many as 22 early in the fourth quarter before whittling the margin down. Games 3-4 in Phoenix on Wednesday and Friday now feel like mandatory wins for the Mercury since two of three games (if necessary) after that would be back in Las Vegas.
“What gives me confidence is we’ve been down before,” Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said. “Obviously people are going to start talking about how good Las Vegas has been, and they should, but we’ve kind of always bounced back.
“We’re excited to go home, play in our home arena. Vegas did what they were supposed to do,” holding home-court advantage. “I think we played a really good Game 1, and they came out and they were ready (for Game 2).”
Particularly Wilson and WNBA Most Valuable Player A’ja Wilson, who combined for 60 points after what for them was an average Game 1 with a combined 31 points.
Young, one of four U.S. gold medal-winning Olympians on the Aces, was 8-of-11 shooting in the third quarter including two 3-pointers and added three free throws. Her 21 points in the third broke the Finals quarter record 19 set by Angel McCoughtry in 2011 and her 30 points through the third tied a McCoughtry record. Young finished with 32.
Hammon said Young almost pulled herself out of Game 1 due to tired legs from a five-game semifinal series against Indiana but assured her coach that she would be more rested in Game 2.
“Apparently she went and found some legs because she was cooking,” Hammon said.
“I woke up early (Saturday), got some treatment in. Honestly, that was it,” Young said. “Obviously, we knew it was just a fatigue thing (in Game 1). My shots were short. I was getting everything I wanted, but they were darts.
“Luckily, that’s why we have a lot of great players on this team. At any point in time, it can be somebody else’s night.”
Dana Evans and Jewell Loyd combined for 39 points off the bench for the Aces in an 89-86 Game 1 win. They had 14 in Game 2 when it was the Aces’ starting stars who did the heavy lifting.
It’s no wonder the Aces, after a rocky start, won 17 consecutive games, the second longest win streak in WNBA history. They are two wins away from their third league title in four seasons and now 5-1 this season vs. the Mercury, who have played close in four of the six games but appear to be running out of solutions.
In the second quarter, the Mercury were outscored 22-10, shooting just 27.8 percent including 0-of-7 from 3-point. Kahleah Copper had 15 points at halftime but no one else more than eight.
Copper finished with 23 and Satou Sabally with 22, 18 of those in the second half. Alyssa Thomas had 10 points, her low for this postseason in which the Mercury are a combined 5-4 vs. New York, Minnesota and Las Vegas.
Thomas picked up her fourth foul early in the third quarter and was knocked down with 3:58 left when the Mercury then subbed out most of its starters.
“There is no holding back AT (Thomas),” Tibbetts said. “She is who she is. That’s why we love her. That’s why she’s the player that she is. The thing that I just get disappointed in is hearing our officials say that she’s hard to officiate because she plays so physical. AT is going to be AT. We want her to be AT because she’s a hell of a player. We want her playing with that downhill force.”
The Mercury are 0-2 in the playoffs for the first time, having won Game 2 in the first round and semifinals after dropping Game 1 of those shorter series.
Tibbetts is focused on defensive improvement because of the Aces averaging 90 points and depending on home court to infuse his players with needed energy.
“We just kind of held the ball and over dribbled,” Tibbetts said. “I’ve been really proud of our offense the last four or five games, how we’ve moved it. We found matchups that we like. We did not do a good job of that today.
“We need to do a better job of finding the mismatches either in the post or in the pick and roll. In the second quarter we just kind of stood and watched, and you can’t do that against a team like this.”
The post WNBA Finals: Young, Wilson propel Aces to 2-0 series lead over Phoenix Mercury first appeared on Sports360AZ.
