Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. It is the WNBA Semifinals.
The Las Vegas Aces force a Game 5 with the Connecticut Sun.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Chris O’Meara/AP.)
The Las Vegas Aces aren’t going home yet.
But it seemed like the Connecticut Sun had a pretty good chance at kicking them out of the Wubble. DeWanna Bonner had a double-double in the first half and her team led the Aces by one.
And then Angel McCoughtry happened. While the Aces were leaving Briann January and Jasmine Thomas open for three because they couldn’t make them, Angel McCoughtry took over and had herself a third quarter. She matched the Sun’s 16 points in the third.
After that, it was the play of Danielle Robinson that kept the offense going for the Aces. Her steal and lay-up put the Aces up 12 and that pretty much sealed the game for Vegas.
Angel had 29 points in that all-important Game 4. A’ja Wilson and Robinson each scored 18 points. As for the Sun, they were led by Jasmine Thomas with 25 points. Alyssa Thomas was unusually quiet for the game. She did have 15 points and 8 boards but it felt like she didn’t make much of a dent in Game 4. As for Bonner, she had 10 points and 12 boards in the first half but did not score in the second half. She ended with 10 points and 15 rebounds.
Game 5 will be played on Tuesday. And they already know who they’re going to go against because…
The Seattle Storm won Game 3 against the Minnesota Lynx with a blowout victory. Breanna Stewart was dominant; she went for a playoff career-best 31 points as well as 6 rebounds, 7 assists, two blocks, and three steals. She did everything. She made her perimeter shots. She went to the post. She beat double-teams using her footwork. The Lynx didn’t have a shot in hell on stopping her on Sunday.
Sue Bird looked spry on Sunday. She tied her season highs of 16 points and 9 assists in Game 3. I felt her and Stewie set the tone for this game. They went on a 17-0 run in the first and really never looked back. The Lynx got it down to 7 by the third quarter but the Storm punched back with another 12-0 run.
Credit to the Lynx, though. I’m not sure if anyone picked them to go to Semifinals, especially after Sylvia Fowles had an injury-riddled season. It’s a testament to what Cheryl Reeves has built in Minnesota.
As for the other semifinals? The Aces have a chance to go the WNBA Finals for the first time since they moved to Vegas. The franchise did go to the WNBA Finals ONCE when they were in San Antonio (the SILVER Stars). That was in 2008 when they were led by the legendary Becky Hammon.
The Connecticut Sun are looking for their 4th WNBA Finals berth. They’re 0-3 thus far as they lost in 2004, 2005, and last season.
Double U Scoreboard
GAME 4: #1 LV 84 vs #7 CON 75 (Series is tied, 2-2)
GAME 3: #2 SEA 92 vs #4 MIN 71 (SEA wins series, 3-1)
Watch This Play
Phee, who had gotten the best of her defensively many times in this series, couldn’t stop Stewie’s footwork and that clever lay-up where she went under.
💥 @breannastewart 💥#StrongerThanEver pic.twitter.com/5cFPscltt3
— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) September 27, 2020
The semis end on Tuesday! Who will face the Storm?!
Please take care, everybody.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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