LAS VEGAS, NV — The Connecticut Sun had no answer for the high-octane offense that consisted of Chelsea Gray, A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum, who made more moves on the Sun defense like an eviction notice, as the Aces destroyed the Sun 85-71 in front of another sold out crowd at Michelob Ultra Arena. The Sun front court of Alyssa Thomas and Jonquel Jones finished with a combined 29 points, and yet were out-rebounded defensively by the Aces 32 to 28 in Game 2. Connecticut shot 42.2 percent from the field, as versatile point guard Courtney Williams led all scorers on the Sun with 18 points.
“We felt like we were playing catchup all night since we couldn’t string together consecutive stops,” said Sun head coach Curt Miller.
This team will pull out the ultimate to avoid being swept in the Finals on their home floor. With their backs against the wall and no answer for Gray, the only hope for the Sun is to take it one quarter at a time in order to mustard up a win to keep their championship hopes alive.
“We are taking it one game at a time,” Jones said. “That’s all we can do. We are going to go back home, we are going to have our fans behind us, who have been with us all season, and we are going to use that to propel us to a win and that’s all we can do.”
The Aces have been a good road team during the regular and postseason, after battling the Seattle Storm in the league semi finals. The Aces have the experience, leadership and drive, yet how are they going to put it all together knowing they’re forty minutes away from hoisting up a championship?
“Not looking too far ahead, I would say (we) focus on winning that first quarter,” Gray explained. “Moving on winning that second quarter and the big picture will happen. It’s the little things that gets the wins.”
As both teams headed out their chartered flights to Connecticut late Tuesday night, the Aces are looking to avoid coming back to Las Vegas for a Game 5. From head coach Becky Hammon to the entire roster understands in the words of the late great Kobe Bryant, “job’s not finished, job’s not done.”
Everyone from the Aces will have contribute offensively, along with having the ability to continue their spacing on the floor in order to maximize good shot selection and clock management throughout the game in a hostile environment.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich spoke with the Aces after their Game 2 victory and said, “the sweetest wins are the ones on the road.”
Game 3 is set for Thursday night at 6PM PT at Mohegan Sun Arena.
