By MARK ANDERSON
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — The Aces won their two championships on the opponents’ home floor — Connecticut in 2022 and New York in 2023 — so this is a team that shouldn’t be intimidated as the WNBA Finals shifts to Phoenix for Game 3 on Wednesday.
Las Vegas, which won both home games to open this series against the Mercury, lost Game 3 in both title years before wrapping it up in Game 4.
Both were best-of-five series, so the Aces have a little more work this year with the Finals a best-of-seven for the first time if they are to win their third championship in four years.
The core of those title teams remain mostly in place in four-time MVP A’ja Wilson and fellow All-Stars Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray. Jewell Loyd was a key player on two Seattle championship teams.
Those players know the work is not done and any number of things can change the momentum of a series. The Aces experienced that two years ago when Gray and Kiah Stokes didn’t play in the clincher because of foot injuries, though Las Vegas still eked out the win.
“You don’t want to have a satisfied locker room because we’re not there yet,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “All we did was do what we’re supposed to do. We were supposed to take care of our home court.”
The Aces have been a resilient team, overcoming a 14-14 start that was capped by a record 53-point home loss to Minnesota. They then reeled off 16 consecutive victories to go from the playoff bubble to the No. 2 seed.
Then the postseason tested Las Vegas’ resolve again, with Seattle and a depleted Indiana making the Aces go the distance.
“That stuff helps you be battle tested,” Hammon said. “We know Chelsea, Jackie and A’ja have been in a lot of wars together, but now Jewell’s been in the wars because of how the series have played out.
“Even the whole year, the process is always equipping you for what’s coming next, and I think they really embrace that journey together, being resilient together, going through adversity together. It takes a special group to embrace hard, and they really have all year.”
Even in the two victories over the Mercury, the Aces quickly fell behind in both games.
Should the Aces win Game 3, they would put the Mercury in an almost impossible situation. But a Phoenix win on Wednesday would set up a Game 4 that could pull the Mercury even.
“We just have to play the game in front of us,” Wilson said. “We don’t look at the series as just the numbers. We look at it as this is just another opportunity to play basketball the right way. Going into Phoenix, that’s the same mindset that we’ll have.”
The Aces have beaten the Mercury five of six games between the regular season and the Finals, so they clearly have the edge.
But series can turn and turn quickly, and the Mercury will do everything they can on their home floor to at least make it a competitive one. They can borrow on their experience from this postseason when they trailed top-seeded Minnesota by 20 points and faced the likelihood of falling into a 2-0 series hole in the semifinals. Phoenix rallied to win that game and eventually close out the series.
“That’s a part of our identity,” Mercury guard Kahleah Copper said. “But I think we’ve really got to lock in defensively. I think in (Game 2) in general, it was about having some fight and we kind of lost that. But on to the next. Seven-game series.”
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
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