The Las Vegas Aces opened the WNBA playoffs Sunday with a statement, beating the Indiana Fever 102-85 in Game 1 of their first-round series at Michelob ULTRA Arena. And on a day already filled with accolades, A’ja Wilson somehow found another gear.
Wilson finished with a playoff career-high 38 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots, shooting a blistering 15-of-19 from the field as Las Vegas took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
When Chelsea Gray was asked afterward what you do when Wilson is having a game like that, her answer required no basketball dissertation.
“Get out the way. Get her the ball.”
Sometimes the scouting report really can be that simple.
But Wilson’s performance was also the loudest example of something Aces coach Becky Hammon has preached throughout the season: playing the right way.
During the regular season, Hammon repeatedly talked about her team trusting the offense, trusting each other and resisting the temptation to force the game when defenses dictate something different.
After Game 1, Vegas Sports Today asked Hammon what she saw Sunday that told her the Aces were doing exactly that.
“When defenses are locked in and they’re very committed to taking away certain things, you have to still play within the team and take what they give you,” Hammon said.
Then she singled out Gray and Jackie Young.
“I don’t know how many times I tell them. I’m asking them to make the players around them great, and they’re committed to that. And that’s part of playing the right way.”
That distinction it’s a big deal in the postseason.
Playing the right way does not mean everybody gets the same number of shots. It means understanding what the game is giving you and being willing to lean into it. On Sunday, what the game was giving Las Vegas was Wilson.
She scored efficiently from seemingly everywhere she needed to operate, punishing Indiana without hijacking the offense. Her 38 points came on just 19 field-goal attempts. Las Vegas, meanwhile, erupted for 62 first-half points and shot nearly 65 percent from the floor before halftime.
That is what made Wilson’s afternoon more impressive than the raw scoring total.
“You just trust the process,” Hammon said. “You trust the pieces that we put around.”
For Wilson, the performance capped a remarkable day before the first playoff game even tipped.
Earlier Sunday, Wilson was named the Associated Press WNBA Player of the Year for an unprecedented third consecutive season. She received 15 of 17 first-place votes from the AP’s national media panel. It was Wilson’s fourth AP Player of the Year honor overall, breaking her tie with Breanna Stewart for the most since the award began in 2016.
Quite a Sunday.
“No matter who’s out there on the court, we want the biggest cheerleaders on that bench,” Hammon said. “That whole bench should be energized. So when A’ja and Chelsea come out the games, they better be the best cheerleaders on that bench and vice versa, and we just pull through together.”
Then Hammon returned to a message she has delivered enough times that the reporters in the room knew the answer before she finished the question.
“I don’t know how many times have I talked to you guys about pulling greatness out of everybody else?”
Every day.
