Aces start hot and stay that way in win over Mercury
Aces coach Becky Hammon didn’t realize her team was on the verge of breaking a playoff record. She was too furious with her defense to think about her historic offense.
“I was turning all sorts of colors of red,” she said.
Despite a perfect start from the floor on offense, Hammon called a quick timeout and lit into her players for their sloppy defending. Aces guard Chelsea Gray said Hammon stressed the necessity of consistent defensive effort, though the point guard omitted some of the less repeatable parts of Hammon’s speech.
“In an edited way, that’s what she was saying,” Gray said.
The Aces’ defense locked in, and the offense stayed hot after the early timeout, setting multiple shooting records. Gray had 27 points and eight assists to lead the No. 1-seeded Aces to a 117-80 win in Game 2 of their first-round series against the No. 8 Phoenix Mercury Saturday in front of 9,126 fans at Michelob Ultra Arena.
The win clinched the best-of-three series 2-0 for the Aces, who advanced to the WNBA semifinals. The Aces will play the first game of the semifinals at 1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28, at Michelob Ultra Arena. Their opponent will be the winner of the first-round series between the No. 4 Seattle Storm and the No. 5 Washington Mystics.
All-Star guard Kelsey Plum added 22 points and went 4 of 6 from 3. The Aces assisted 31 of their 41 made field goals, a franchise playoff record.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
1. Perfect start
Almost seven minutes into the first quarter, All-Star A’ja Wilson missed a mid-range jumper. It was the Aces’ first miss of the game.
The Aces were 10-for-10 from the floor to begin the game, setting a WNBA playoff record. Six of those attempts were 3s as the Aces scored 34 points in the first 10 minutes. They finished the quarter shooting 76.5 percent from the floor and 80 percent from 3.
“I think right now, as a team, we’re playing our best basketball at both ends,” Gray said. “You want to peak at the right time.”
2. 3-point barrage
The Aces’ hot shooting touch continued the entire game. Their 11 made 3s in the first half set a WNBA playoff record for 3s in a half. Their eight 3s during the first quarter was also a league postseason record.
By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Aces had 23 made 3s — a playoff and regular-season record.
“Phoenix was giving us different looks, they were throwing different things at us,” Wilson said. “We just stayed composed.”
Gray continued to pour it on in the third quarter, going a perfect 4-for-4 from 3. She finished 7 of 8 on 3s. Eight Aces players made at least one 3, and five players hit multiple attempts from deep.
3. Late injury troubles
Hammon substituted her starters with 1:48 remaining in the third quarter. However, some key Aces reserves were injured late.
Rookie forward Iliana Rupert, who has played big minutes since All-Star Dearica Hamby suffered a right knee bone contusion in early August, took a shot to the head during a fast break and had to be removed from the game with a concussion. She did not return.
With limited options, Hammon replaced Rupert with starter Kiah Stokes, who immediately twisted her ankle while going for a rebound and also left the game. However, the Aces’ coach isn’t worried for now.
“We’ll have plenty of time to recover,” Hammon said. “I’m sure both will be good to go.”
Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on Twitter.
