The top-seeded Las Vegas Aces let a close one slip away at home Sunday vs. the Seattle Storm, who stole Game 1 with a 76-73 triumph in their best-of-five semifinal series. But first-year Aces coach and newly minted WNBA Coach of the Year Becky Hammon was quick to find the bright side.
“The good news is there’s some things that we can correct,” Hammon told media following the loss. “Obviously, we didn’t shoot the ball well tonight. It comes down to, sometimes, just making shots at the end of the game.”
Aces All-Star guard Kelsey Plum, who scored 20 points for the seventh time in her last eight playoff games, went 8-for-23 (2-of-10 from the three) on the night but missed two game-tying three-pointers at the end of a tug-o-war fourth quarter, including a 25-footer with 2.9 seconds left. Leading the way for Las Vegas was fellow guard Chelsea Gray, who scored a team-high 21 points, one rebound, five assists and two steals in 35 minutes.
The 29-year-old Gray went 9-15 from the field and is now 24-for-35 in the playoffs. Should she maintain her 68.6-percent shooting average, it would mark the highest field-goal percentage ever in the postseason for a player with at least 35 attempts.
“She just the steady in the storm,” said Hammon regarding the eight-year league veteran. “She’s calm, she’s cool, she’s collected. You know she’s going to get a look. So, you know, I feel good about putting the ball in her hands.”
The ball was indeed in Gray’s hands with 1:29 left in the game, when she swished a 17-footer to tie the game at 73. But a foul by Plum on Storm sharpshooter Jewell Loyd (game-high 26 points) gave Seattle the advantage when she made the second of two free throws and followed up 42 seconds later with a 20-footer to put the No. 4 seed on top for good.
“You know, it’s interesting because you have a game plan for everybody on their team, but in particular Chelsea Gray,” said first-year Seattle coach Noelle Quinn, who won a WNBA title with the Storm as a player in 2018.
But just last month, Gray was passed over for an All-Star nod, despite averages of 12.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 6.0 assists while shooting 45% from the field and 91% from the free-throw line over the first half of the season. While the rest of Vegas’ starting five – A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, Dearica Hamby and Plum – headed to Chicago to play in the WNBA All-Star Game, Gray said she turned off her phone, put in extra workouts and prepared to crush the second half of the season.
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Gray got her due later that month when she was named MVP of the Commissioner’s Cup championship game, where the Aces beat the defending WNBA champion Chicago Sky 93-83. Gray scored 19 points, five assists and four rebounds, but perhaps more meaningful was the praise she earned from her teammates.
“I just want to, for the record, set it straight: She’s the best point guard in the world,” said Plum postgame. “She’s the starting point guard on the Olympic team. She’s an All-Star. She’s the clutchest player in the WNBA. Ask anyone, ask any GM, head coach, player. She got snubbed this year and it just sucks because I felt like we deserved five All-Stars.
“… She leads our team and when we need plays down the stretch, Chelsea consistently makes big plays. At the end of the day, you can talk about the numbers, but she wins games. That, to me, should be the most important thing. She doesn’t get the love and credit she deserves and I’m really, really glad people saw that tonight.”
Since the All-Star break, Gray has elevated her scoring and is tied for the team lead in the playoffs with 22.0 points. She also leads in assists, averaging 6.0. In her last nine games, she’s scored at least 20 points in six of them – including a career-high 33 vs. Seattle in their regular-season finale – and at least 15 points in all but one.
“She’s a bucket-getter, and, you know, I don’t know where we’re at without Chelsea Gray, to be honest,” Hammon said last week. “She is the leader out there, the floor general. She’s an extension of me. She’s somebody who takes a lot of ownership of our offense and our defense. … I think I give her a tremendous amount of trust, and she’s trusted me, so it’s a really good working relationship.”
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Gray, a California native, played four years at Duke, where she helped guide the Blue Devils to two ACC Tournament titles. But her college career was truncated just 17 games into her senior season after she fractured her kneecap. The injury, however, did nothing to impact her standing as a first-round draft pick in 2014. The Connecticut Sun drafted Gray 11th overall, and she earned her first of four All-Star honors in 2017 as a member of the Los Angeles Sparks, who also captured the WNBA title the same year.
“Chelsea Gray got a PhD in pick and rolls,” added Hammon. “She’s got her doctorate. She can slice and dice a pick and roll better than (anyone). I mean, she’s elite and I don’t even want to put her in any kind of company. She’s just elite at dissecting a pick and roll.”
As Las Vegas aims to cut down the nets next month for the first time in franchise history, they’ll need Gray to keep up the momentum. A challenge she’s up for.
“Yeah, there was a little bit of a chip on my shoulder for me not getting selected, but also getting more into a flow and in a rhythm with a lot more time in between,” Gray said recently. “Just reading the defenses, honestly, just taking what the defense gives me. It’s kind of like similar shots, I’m just knocking them down now.”
The Aces are back in action this Wednesday for Game 2 of their semifinal series vs. the Storm in Las Vegas.
