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In final regular season meeting, Miles + Lynx top Aces despite Wilson’s 30-point effort
The first two teams to already have clinched playoff berths this season met for the final time during the regular season all for it to resemble a postseason clash.
Minnesota got the better of Las Vegas, 92-87, Saturday, Aug. 15 from Michelob Ultra Arena as the nightcap of a three-game day in the WNBA. With the win, the Lynx claim the season series two games to one while improving to 15-2 on the road as the Aces fell to 11-6 at home on the year.
“I thought we gained some good information going forward,” head coach Becky Hammon said. “I’ve got my wheels already thinking here. If we have to match up with them again, we’ll do some things differently.”
Overall, Las Vegas sits at 24-12 this season while in the midst of this five-game road trip which still has two more dates to go. Up next, the club will host Atlanta from the Michelob Ultra Arena Tuesday, Aug. 16. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
“It's a good learning game for us,” Hammon said. “We’re constantly information-gathering and our big dogs have to play a little better [...] We’ve got to get better guard play, there’s no doubt about that and we will.”
Minnesota’s first quarter was just a taste of what would soon be in store for the defending champs as the visitors posted shooting splits of 56% from the field, 40% from three-point range and a 100% mark from the free throw line in the opening 10 minutes.
Rookie guard Olivia Miles raced out to eight points by the first media timeout of the contest before concluding the first session with 17 combined points along with teammate Natasha Howard.
“Dynamic player,” guard Chelsea Gray said. “Able to score the basketball and dish it out. She can score in a multitude of ways and if you take that away she’s able to pass it out.”
Despite having 10 ties in the first half, the third quarter was largely all Lynx.
Aces forward Stephanie Talbot committed a flagrant-one foul on former Ace Kayla McBride’s corner three-point attempt. At the time of the flagrant, the home team was down two points but would soon be on the wrong end of an 8-0 Minnesota run.
To make matters worse, the league’s best team based on record closed the third quarter on a 10-2 run in total over the last minute and 48 seconds.
“We weren’t scoring the basketball,” Hammon said. “We were stuck on 52 points, I think it was 14-4 to come out. I think we had six or seven turnovers in that third quarter. I think our offensive woes gave us defensive woes.”
Las Vegas fought back to start the fourth quarter in the form of a 9-0 run before a pair of threes from forward Napheesa Collier changed the complexion of things. All Lynx starters scored in double-figures including 23 points from the aforementioned Miles and 19 points from Collier.
“They were getting too many wide open threes,” Gray said. “Its hard to come back in a game when they’re just knocking down threes. And we’re not scoring and we’re taking the ball out of the net every single time.”
Last time out against the Lynx, forward A’ja Wilson was held to a then season-low 16 points. She surpassed that total in the first half of this one with 19 first half points including 10 in the second quarter.
Wilson finished the night with a game-high 32 points on 10-of-15 shooting to go along with seven rebounds.
“A’ja’s going to attract damn near the whole team every time we play them,” forward NaLyssa Smith said. “Just sneaking in and trying to get easy buckets, that’s probably where I find the most success in.”
Smith was the final starter in double-figures with 17 points on a sharp 7-for-13 shooting. She also recorded her fourth double-double of the year with 12 rebounds to her credit.
“Second chance points are something we’re great at,” she said. “Just trying to get the team another opportunity to score the ball.”
Guard Jackie Young didn’t score her first points of the game until the second quarter on her way to eight points on 3-of-11 from the floor coupled with nine assists to a game-high six turnovers.
Young and Gray accounted for 18 of the team’s 20 assists on the night. Gray also added 12 points during her outing.
“[Minnesota] is bumping you the whole time, it’s like bumper cars,” Hammon said. “If people aren’t allowed to run and have that freedom of movement, it makes you use clock to get into sets. I thought we were starting actions way too late into the shot clock.”
Reserve guard Jewell Loyd was the last player with a double-digit point total with 10 points on the night.
“All things considered, I’m not too terribly upset,” Hammon said. “There’s definitely some things that we can do better. I thought Minnesota played great, they did what they had to do but I’m more concerned with our group.
“Trying to get to a point where we’re clicking on all cylinders and I don’t know if we’re there yet, clicking on all cylinders night-in and night-out. Defensively and offensively. We still have room for growth, at the end of the day we lose by five and I don’t think we did some things particularly well so I’m optimistic in those ways.”
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