Gordon: WNBA playoff games don’t get any better than this

If there has been a better, more compelling and thrilling game in the WNBA’s 26-year history than the one the Aces and Seattle Storm played Sunday afternoon, Becky Hammon can’t remember it.

She debuted in the W as a point guard for the New York Liberty in 1999, the league’s third season. Returned to coach the Aces this season, its 26th.

If she can’t recall one, then who can?

“I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of anything like that. … Can’t think of a back-and-forth between two heavyweights like this game,” the WNBA’s Coach of the Year said moments after a 110-98 overtime victory in Game 3 of the WNBA semifinals.

“It was just big shot after big shot after big shot.”

Among those referenced by Hammon: Riquna Williams’ catch-and-shoot triple with 10.2 seconds remaining and A’ja Wilson’s drive and finish on the Aces’ ensuing possession with 2.7 seconds to play. There was Sue Bird’s corner triple with 1.9 seconds left that should have won the game for Seattle. And Jackie Young’s buzzer-beating, game-tying layup in the face of Storm center Ezi Magbegor.

Plus either of Chelsea Gray’s overtime triples.

“There were so many back-and-forths. ‘They’re going to win. We’re going to win. Now we’re going to overtime,’” said Gray, engineer Sunday of a 29-point, 12-assist masterpiece.

“That’s what playoff basketball is all about. It felt good.”

Even better to win one of the greatest WNBA games ever — in one its greatest series ever.

The buildup

Never before in WNBA playoff history had a lead changed hands three times within the final three seconds of regulation, per Elias Sports, and that is a testament Seattle’s resolve Sunday afternoon.

The Storm were lethargic in the first half of what could be the penultimate game of Bird’s storied career. The Aces were energetic, invigorated by their small-ball lineup.

Playing Gray, Williams, Young and Kelsey Plum together around Wilson has maximized the MVP front-runner, who played all 45 minutes, scored 34 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Sunday to become the first player in league history to have consecutive 30-point, 10-rebound outings in the postseason.

Wilson scored 20 in the first half, powering the Aces to a 15-point lead that would become a two-point deficit midway through the third quarter — setting the stage for a frenetic fourth quarter.

“You’re going to need a cushion against this team because they’re not going anywhere,” Hammon said. “It’s hard to knock out a champ.”

Especially when that champ is guided by an all-time great like Bird, and buoyed by a perennial MVP candidate like Breanna Stewart and All-Stars Jewell Loyd and Tina Charles.

They hit their fair share of timely shots.

The climax

Even Storm reserve forward Stephanie Talbot intervened, scoring 12 in the fourth quarter and trading makes with the likes of Wilson and Gray. Neither team led by more than six points in the fourth quarter, creating tantalizing tension in a series separated by two points across 120 minutes of regulation — and calling for the Coach of the Year to be exactly that.

Facing a four-point deficit, Hammon unleashed the first of three successive impeccable play-calls after timeouts — running Williams off a screen from Wilson to free her for three at the top of the key. A pair of missed Seattle free throws preceded the second, one that isolated Wilson for a drive and finish.

The third followed Bird’s go-ahead triple, calling Wilson to screen and spring Young free while Williams spaced to the corner and Plum fanned out to the 3-point line.

“I have the luxury of being able to draw something, stuff they’ve never seen before, and they can go out and do it,” Hammon said.

A luxury indeed.

The Aces also have the luxury of two opportunities to close out the Storm, who will attempt Tuesday to stave off elimination and force a decisive Game 5 in Las Vegas on Thursday.

We have a luxury, too. The luxury of watching.

Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.