Courtney Williams had a team-high 18 points in Connecticut’s game two loss to Las Vegas on Tuesday night.
The Las Vegas Aces just kept coming at the Connecticut Sun Tuesday night in game two of the WNBA finals and the Sun just couldn’t stop them.
League MVP A’ja Wilson was 10-of-13 from the floor for a game-high 26 points and 10 rebounds. Chelsea Gray-had converted on 9-of-16 shots for 21 points and Kelsey Plum had her best game of the playoffs with 20 points as the Aces took a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series with a 85-71 win over the Sun before another sellout crowd in Las Vegas.
The Aces can win their first WNBA championship in franchise history with a win Thursday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena while the Sun, who are 3-0 in elimination games in this year’s playoffs, will look to stay alive with a victory.
Courtney Williams had 18 points to lead the Sun with Jonquel Jones scoring 16 and pulling down 11 rebounds. Alyssa Thomas scored 13 with Brionna Jones chipping in with 12.
“We had stretches when our big (lineup of Jonquel Jones, Brionna Jones, DeWanna Bonner) had good moments,” Connecticut coach Curt Miller said. “It was hard to sustain when we were inconsistent with our guard play again.”
Bonner, who is a forward, scored just two points, making just 1-of-9 shots from the floor with Natisha Hiedeman going scoreless. Oydssey Sims, off the bench, had just three points in nine minutes of work.
“We just felt like we were playing catch up all night because we couldn’t string together consecutive stops,” Miller said. “And again, we are trying to find disruption. We are trying to keep this high-powered offense out of rhythm, and tonight we really struggled to do that.”
Gray helped Las Vegas pull away early in the first quarter with a jump shot and a sweet ball fake to get by Brionna Jones to spark a 9-1 run to close out the quarter. Wilson scored in the lane over Thomas and Plum weaved through traffic for a 13-1 surge to give the Aces early command of the game.
At one point in the second quarter, Plum scored seven straight points for Las Vegas. She had 11 of her 20 points in the second quarter.
Plum got some not-so-gentle inspiration from Wilson in the hours leading up to the game.
“Yes, I told her she needs to get her s…t together,” Wilson said. “At the end of the day, that is what she needed to do. I wanted her to understand that we need her to make shots. I know it sounds harsh but KP is a pro and she took care of business. She understands we believe in her.“
Plum was 1-of-9 from the floor in game one.
Wilson was unstoppable as well. She had 18 of her 26 points at the half and sunk seven of her first nine shots from the floor.
“I felt like she’s been the most consistent player night in, night out offensively and defensively in this league and that’s why she’s MVP,” Plum said. “It’s tremendous. A lot of times when we are watching greatness, we don’t appreciate it in live time.”
Gray continued to hit tough, tough shots throughout the game. “There are a ton of really talented players in this league who can make the open shot. Chelsea Gray makes contested shots. She makes incredibly difficult contested shots. “
Wilson, Gray and Plum became the third trio in WNBA history to score at least 20 points in a playoff game. They combined to score 67 of 85 points for the Aces.
Connecticut used a 9-2 burst to cut the lead to four with 24.9 seconds left in the quarter but Gray found Wilson underneath the basket with 1.6 seconds left for a 45-37 halftime lead.
The Sun hit four of their five shots from the floor to open the third period to cut the lead to three, 49-46. Vegas coach Becky Hammon called timeout and the Aces returned to the floor and scored eight of the next 10 points to push the lead back to nine.
The Sun scored just two field goals in the rest of the third quarter and trailed by 14 after three quarters.
Hammon reminded them about their defensive efforts. “It was them,” she said. “They know what they are supposed to do, and it’s my job to remind them what they are supposed to be doing. And you know, at the end of the day, they have to go out and do it, and they did.”
NOTES: Wilson has scored at least 20 points and pulled down at least 10 rebounds in five straight WNBA playoff games, a new league record.
2022 WNBA finals
Sunday, Sept. 11
Las Vegas 67, Connecticut 64
Tuesday, Sept. 13
Las Vegas 85, Connecticut 71, Las Vegas leads series, 2-0
Thursday, Sept. 15
Game 3: Las Vegas at Connecticut, 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Sunday, Sept. 18
Game 4: Las Vegas at Connecticut, 4 p.m. (ESPN), if necessary
Tuesday, Sept. 20
Game 5: Connecticut at Las Vegas, 9 p.m. (ESPN), if necessary
