Aces Cruise to 2-0 Lead in WNBA Finals
After a hotly contested Game 1 on Friday (October 3), the Las Vegas Aces were firing on all cylinders in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals in a dominant 91-78 win over the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday.
The Aces are just two wins away from claiming their third WNBA championship in four years.
The Aces Big 3; Jackie Young, A’ja Wilson, and Chelsea Gray, were unstoppable. Young scored 32 points with 21 coming in the third quarter, a new WNBA record, along with eight rebounds. Wilson scored 28 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, and Gray posted 10 points and 10 assists.. Gray became the fifth player in WNBA Finals history to have back-to-back games with 10 or more assists.
In the post-game interview, Young shared how playing with Wilson has elevated her game.
"It's a blessing getting to play with the best player in the world every single day," Young said. "She is the standard, and on this team, everyone wants to be the standard. So you don't want to be the one who is [slacking]."
"I am so proud of Jackie," Wilson said. "I'm a pain in the a** sometimes when she's not doing her job because I know that it is there. I know that Jackie Young is there, so I try to bring it out of her.
"To be able to witness [her] on the court, [she] did some nasty stuff today; that's crazy. To live it, it's been tons of fun,” Wilson continued.
Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts said his squad did not have the offensive cohesion they’ve played with throughout the playoffs. He also promises the pinpoint mismatches for the next game.
"I've been proud of our offense the last four or five games -- how we've moved it, we found matchups that we liked. We did not do a good job of that today," Tibbetts said. "It's probably some of us and some of Vegas."
For the Mercury, Kahleah Cooper scored 21 points, Alyssa Thomas added 10 points, six points, and four assists, and Satou Sabally had 12 points and five rebounds. Sabally left the game 3:57 remaining in the fourth quarter with a right ankle injury after being fouled by Wilson.
Game 3 is set for Wednesday in Phoenix.
