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Las Vegas loses lead late, forced into Game 3 back home Thursday
- Terrel Emerson
- Sep 16
- 3 min read
For just the second time in the last 21 outings, the Las Vegas Aces have lost a game.
Las Vegas dropped Game 2 in Seattle as the Storm rallied late for an, 86-83, win over the Aces Tuesday, Sept. 16 from Climate Pledge Arena. It goes down as the first loss in the first round for the franchise with Becky Hammon as head coach in eight tries.
“We didn’t execute our stuff at a high level tonight,” guard Jewell Loyd said. “On both ends of the floor and that led to us losing tonight.”
The loss ends a 17-game win streak for Las Vegas that dates back to the regular season. That stretch was the second-longest win streak in league history behind 18 consecutive victories by the 2001 Los Angeles Sparks.
On Thursday, Sept. 18 the Aces will host the Storm in a decisive Game 3 from the Michelob Ultra Arena with first pitch slated for 7 p.m.
“I think the lower seed should have to win a game to come get one at home,” Hammon said. “But it is what it is – It’s a tough travel, really. For all parties to come in for one then go back for one.”
Seattle had an early 10-3 run in the first quarter but it was the way the team closed quarters that led it to its season-saving win. At one point in the third quarter, Las Vegas held a lead as large as 14 points.
The Storm went on a 7-0 run more than halfway through the fourth quarter to trim the once double-digit lead to just two points. Prior to, the home team closed the second and third quarters on a combined 15-2 run.
“They’re playing for their lives,” Hammon said. “They better be physical. We didn’t match the physicality in the first half, I thought we did a better job coming out in the third. You’ve got an eight-nine point lead going into the fourth quarter, you’ve got to protect that.”
With 31 seconds left in regulation, Seattle grabbed its first lead since leading, 37-36, in the second quarter to force a Hammon timeout. Immediately after, Las Vegas turned the ball over right out of the timeout break.
Storm guard Skylar Diggins pushed the slim one-point lead to three with a floater with just over four seconds left. Former Seattle guard, Loyd missed the game-tying three-pointer as the final seconds ticked away, finishing with 12 points on the night.
“I feel confident anytime we get good looks,” Loyd said. “Just a little off. Obviously, didn’t want to be in that situation.”
Hammon agreed with her sentiments.
“We got a decent look,” Hammon said. “We missed, that’s the way the game goes – it should’ve never come down to that quite honestly. The defense in the last two and a half minutes was really poor.”
Early on, every Storm run was met by a response from forward A’ja Wilson. In the first quarter, she scored four straight points to tie the game at 13 apiece as that sparked a 9-0 run for the No. 2 overall seed in the playoffs this year.
For a brief moment in the second quarter, Seattle took its aforementioned lead before Wilson splashed a corner three to regain the lead. That shot started another 9-0 run for Las Vegas.
Wilson ended with 21 points on 7-of-12 from the field to go along with 13 rebounds in the loss.
Guard Jackie Young led all Aces scorers with 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting coupled with five rebounds and four assists. She scored 21 of those 25 points in the second half, highlighted by 14 points in the third quarter.
Early in that third quarter, Young reached double-figure scoring on her lone three-point make of the night to put Las Vegas up 10 points. She’d show up big again for her team after Seattle cut the deficit to two points in the fourth quarter after she converted an and-one plus the made free throw.
“She was struggling a little bit in the first half,” Hammon said. “We’re not going anywhere without her so we’ve got to get her going. Luckily, she was able to get herself going.”
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