WNBA: Las Vegas Win An All-Time Playoff Epic
Who knows what lies ahead, but it’s going to be tough for any 2022 WNBA playoff game to beat what we saw in Seattle on Sunday.
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The Aces pulled ahead 2-1 in the series with a 110-98 overtime win on the road.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been a part of something like that,” Aces head coach Becky Hammon said after the game.
Las Vegas led by as many as 15 points in the first half before Seattle came roaring back to tie it in the third quarter, after which the teams traded close leads.
The sequence in the final 12 seconds of regulation had to be seen to be believed.
Seattle led by four points with 11.3 seconds left after two made free throws by Jewell Loyd, but Las Vegas responded immediately on a Riquna Williams 3-pointer.
The Aces fouled Tina Charles on the next possession, and she missed both of her free throws.
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Las Vegas then took a one-point lead courtesy of A’ja Wilson, who finished the game with 34 points and 11 rebounds.
On the next inbound pass, Sue Bird drilled a 3-point shot to give Seattle a two-point lead.
With less than two seconds left, the Aces forced overtime thanks to a free look underneath the basket by Jackie Young.
Las Vegas took over in overtime, propelled by Chelsea Gray’s exceptional shooting.
Gray scored a career playoff-high 29 points, with 12 assists and five rebounds, contributing to 59 of Vegas’ 110 points.
It was going to take something special to beat Seattle at Climate Pledge Arena, and the Aces achieved just that.
It’s now on the Storm to win on Tuesday and force a Game 5.
Meanwhile…
Sunday’s other WNBA semifinal matchup didn’t have quite the same attacking firepower, but it made up for it in grit.
Chicago pulled out a 76-72 win on the road in Connecticut to take control of the series 2-1.
Game 3 was another bruising game, favoring calm heads amid the chaos.
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Candace Parker once again led the way for Chicago, logging 16 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks.
Connecticut’s DeWanna Bonner had a game-high 18 points to go along with 11 rebounds and four assists.
The Sky forced 17 turnovers, but each team’s defensive tenacity kept the game close.
Chicago wasn’t exactly efficient on offense, shooting only 24% from beyond the arc while being out-rebounded by Connecticut 46 to 35.
The Sun also struggled to take advantage of their “defense to offense” system, generating offense but missing open looks at the other end.
Jonquel Jones came back down to earth from her 23-point performance in Game 2, scoring only six points on 30% shooting.
The deciding factor came down to who could make clutch decisions at the right time.
Sun head coach Curt Miller controversially sat Jones with 3:37 remaining in the game and Connecticut down by four points.
“We came out on top just because we were able to adjust to how physical the game was and what we needed to do,” Parker said afterward.
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