Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. It is the WNBA Semifinals.
MVP A’ja Wilson is all smiles as she and the Las Vegas Aces move on to the WNBA Finals.
This game really felt like a winner-take-all game.
But the Connecticut Sun had other ideas. They sped through a 16-point lead after a 20-7 run. Part of that run had a ref inexplicably calling a technical foul on A’ja Wilson. This was after she made a bucket and she yelled AND ONE. She wasn’t even looking at the direction of said official. But anyway…
The Aces went on a bit of a run. Angel McCoughtry, who had a huge Game 4, scored 12 points in the second quarter. They were able to knock the deficit down to 45-39 by halftime.
Then the Aces were ready for the mosh pit, shaka brah. They scored 13 unanswered in the third to briefly take the lead. However, Jasmine Thomas was able to break away for a lay-up after the steal by Natisha Hiedeman. The Sun led by a precarious score of 54-53 after three.
The fourth quarter was just gritty. They went back and forth for a bit before we saw A’ja Wilson live at the line. The game got stuck at 62-61 for nearly three and a half minutes before we saw Alyssa Thomas make her push shot. That was the last time the Sun scored.
A’ja Wilson continued to will her way to the paint and the free throw line. With 13 seconds left, McCoughtry missed a jumper. The Sun had one last shot to send the game to overtime but an unbalanced DeWanna Bonner missed. The #1 seed Las Vegas Aces survived a tough #7 Connecticut Sun team.
The defense really took over for both teams but it stands out more that the Sun only scored 18 points in the entire second half. In fact, they only scored 9 points each in the third and fourth quarters.
A’ja Wilson lived at the line; she went to the stripe 10 times (all in the fourth). She finished with 23 points and 11 boards. Angel McCoughtry scored 12 of her 20 points in the second quarter. As for the Sun, they were led by Alyssa Thomas with 22 points and 10 rebounds. What did stand out was the three-point shooting of the Sun. The Aces normally don’t go to that shot; they went 3 for 9 (.333). But the Sun missed 16 of 19. That is a low percentage of .158.
I’m impressed with the Sun run. Again, they got off to a 0-5 start. They finished 10-12 but they had found their identity. They took care of business against the Chicago Sky and Los Angeles Sparks in the first two rounds and took it to five against the #1 seed. They were four points away from going to the Finals for the second straight season.
But the Aces persevered. They barked back. Even though they lost Dearica Hamby. Even though they didn’t have Kelsey Plum and Liz Cambage. Now they’re going to the WNBA Finals for the first time since the franchise moved to Las Vegas.
Bullet Passes
The Las Vegas Aces went to the WNBA Finals in 2008 when they were in San Antonio. They were the San Antonio Silver Stars and they were led by Becky Hammon. They lost that season to the Detroit Shock, who are now the Dallas Wings. Ironically, that Shock team was coached by current Aces head man, Bill Laimbeer.
The Connecticut Sun were attempting to go to their fourth WNBA Finals. They had lost the Finals in 2004, 2005, and 2019.
The Storm are in their 4th WNBA Finals. They won in 2004, 2010, and 2018. And by the way, Sue Bird was in all of them. That’s how long her career has been going on.
Double U Scoreboard
GAME 5: #1 LV 66 vs #7 CON 63 (LV wins series, 3-2)
Watch This Play
Giving credit to the Sun here. Watch Hiedeman hustle for the ball and give the ball to Jasmine Thomas for the lay-up.
Hustle plays only 💪 #WhosDelivering @jaszthomas gives the Sun a 1-POINT LEAD heading into the 4th 👀 @DoorDash
📺 ESPN2 | #BradentonArea pic.twitter.com/xM3pxiUaWc
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 30, 2020
But we’re getting the top two teams in the WNBA. It’s the Las Vegas Aces vs the Seattle Storm in the 2020 WNBA Finals. The series starts on Friday.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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