Motivated Aces take upper hand
Led by Wilson’s 24 points, Las Vegas uses strong third quarter to win Game 1 of Finals before record crowd.
LAS VEGAS — A’ja Wilson remembers what it was like being swept in the WNBA Finals two years ago, and she didn’t like it.
Sunday, she made sure neither she nor her teammates would feel like that this season.
Wilson had 24 points and 11 rebounds and the Las Vegas Aces beat the Connecticut Sun 67-64 in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.
“In the bubble, we were just happy to be there; and also happy to leave,” Wilson said of the 2020 Finals, which were played in an enclosed campus at the height of the pandemic. “Now in the moment, it’s like OK, we know that feeling. It sucks getting swept, it’s the worst thing ever. That’s the chip on your shoulder; that’s the fire.”
The Aces staved off a late run by the Sun, who nearly erased a seven-point deficit with 1:24 left when Alyssa Thomas hit back-to-back shots to pull Connecticut to within three. But DeWanna Bonner’s desperation threepoint shot to tie the score fell short as time expired.
Chelsea Gray finished with 21 points for Las Vegas and Jackie Young chipped in 11 as the franchise won its first WNBA Finals game. The team also was swept in 2008 when it was based in San Antonio.
After squandering a firstquarter lead and allowing the Sun to control the second and carry momentum into the third, Las Vegas outscored Connecticut 13-3 to close the third quarter and seize momentum for the final period before a frenzied, record, sold-out crowd of 10,135.
Thomas led Connecticut with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Jonquel Jones had 15 points and Brionna Jones came off the bench with 12.
“In the second half of that third quarter, they started to make some difficult shots and we could not find any kind of offensive rhythm, and missed some shots we were certainly capable of, forced some shots, and got stagnated by their defense,” Sun coach Curt Miller said.