The Aces are on the ropes; need a historic turnaround to keep title defense alive
· Yahoo Sports
SAN FRANCISCO – If the Las Vegas Aces are going to repeat again, they will have to do something that has never been done before.
Three-time champions in the last four years — boasting a soon-to-be five-time MVP in their ranks — the No. 3 Aces aren’t foreign to historic feats.
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However, overcoming a 2-0 deficit in a WNBA postseason is literally unprecedented. And that’s the hole the reigning queens find themselves in after losing Game 2 of the semifinals to the No. 2 Golden State Valkyries, 83-81, Wednesday night.
Initially, a nightmare repeat of the Game 1, 71-60, defeat from Sunday looked to be on the cards. The Aces trailed by as many as 17 before outscoring the Valkyries 26-17 in the fourth quarter, making things extremely interesting.
Perhaps more interesting than the electric Ballhalla would have liked it. But it made for an epic crescendo for the locals.
For the Aces, things looked better in the second half, but not enough to knock off a young team starving for success — and wanting your crown — despite being in existence for less than two years.
Head coach Becky Hammon called the first half “abysmal.” She wants more of what she saw after the interval.
“They still out-rebounded us, but [we were] better,” she said. The Aces suffered the largest rebounding deficit (-27) in franchise history in the first game. The Valkyries had only four more boards tonight (29-25), but it was still an edge.
The Aces got a positive impact off the bench from Kalani Brown in 23 minutes, grabbing eight boards and adding nine points. But the entire team still needs to do much more.
“We all have to box out,” Brown said. “It’s not just their post players getting [rebounds]; it’s their guards flying in there, too. They’re a very scrappy team, and we just have to be scrappy with them… Those 50/50 balls, we just have to have those.”
At this stage, beyond the glass wars, the biggest difference maker in the series has been effort. Neither team is shooting lights out or playing flawless basketball. But the Valkyries have just been a half step ahead. Their defense — best in the league as advertised — is disruptive from start to finish, almost like head coach Natalie Nakase recharges her players’ batteries at every timeout.
The Aces are older and much richer in experience, but they're fighting injuries left and right. Still, they’re too seasoned in these scenarios not to come through. The way Golden State has derailed the Aces' entire offensive flow, two games in a row, jumps off the page.
The Valkyries still have a lot of work to do to sweep the Aces. But the Aces so rarely even lose two games in a row. This almost feels different. A passing of the torch? No. A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young are in the middle of their primes.
However, Golden State’s rising star Gabby Williams has something A'ja Wilson and Jackie Young don’t: reliable help.
Williams isn’t expected to drop 30 a game for the Valkyries to win. Nakase takes pride in her team's strength in numbers. A different player can carry them any given night. The Aces currently can’t win if A’ja doesn’t reach that mark.
Williams ended with 20 points, one of three Valkyries in double figures. Kayla Thornton (3-5 3PT) added 16, and former Ace Tiffany Hayes erupted for 21 points (6-for-10 FG) in 16 minutes off the bench. Golden State's bench bettered Vegas' 34-14.
Wilson improved on her 24 points on 21 shots from Game 1, pouring in 24 on 9-for-16 shooting today. Young (14) and Gray (19) elevated their 27 combined points from the opener, but Young's 6-for-22 shooting across the two games isn't going to cut it. The Aces need more from their Swiss Army knife.
Young showed flashes of what everyone knows she brings late. She knocked in a three-pointer, and another from the returning Stephanie Talbot followed, making it a seven-point game with 8:20 remaining in the fourth.
And even though the Aces couldn’t string together consecutive stops when they needed them, they kept chipping into the Valkyries’ weakening shield.
The visitors took a brief 76-74 lead with about two minutes remaining — courtesy of triples from Dana Evans, back after a five-game absence, and Gray, plus a nice finish inside from Wilson on former teammate Kiah Stokes.
The Valkyries didn’t blink, though. Acting like they’ve been here before, Williams got to her spot with ease to bring it back level, and an audacious 28-foot deep three from Veronica Burton — her first bucket of the night (1-for-3 FG) — gave Golden State its lead back, 79-76, with 41.5 ticks left to play. And it was one the hosts would not relinquish again.
The frenzy Burton sent Ballhalla into had the building shaking. Literally. Neither the players nor the fans are afraid of the Aces' championship allure. They are ready for the moment.
Burton, the Valkyries’ floor general, had a poor Game 1 and a similarly anonymous Game 2. She chipped in 12 points on 5-for-21 shooting across the two. However, with all the chips pushed into the middle of the table, she found her hot hand.
With the series now relocating to Sin City, a place where famously ‘The House’ always wins, the Aces will need their big hitters to ride their luck if they are to keep their season alive and return to San Francisco for a decisive Game 5 next Wednesday.