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Abraham Smith

The Las Vegas Aces extended their advantage over the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday evening, winning Game 2 of their best-of-five WNBA Finals series in decisive fashion, 85-71. The Aces were powered by 2022 WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, who had a game-high 26 points and 10 rebounds, and punctuated by 20-point performances from Chelsea Gray (21 points, eight assists) and Kelsey Plum (20 points, seven assists).

The Sun were paced by Courtney Williams with 18 points and five assists. Also in double figures were Jonquel Jones (16 points, 11 rebounds) and Alyssa Thomas (13 points), while Brionna Jones came off the bench to score 12.

Connecticut will host Game 3 on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET (ESPN).

Las Vegas Aces vs. Connecticut Sun: Post-game quotes

Aces’ leading scorer A’ja Wilson on her second straight double-double performance: “I’m just getting to my spots. My teammates are putting me in a situation where I’m comfortable and I’m just getting to my spots and taking what the defense gives me.

Aces’ Chelsea Gray on her performance Tuesday and what it will take to win the title on the road: “It’s gonna take every bit of every body and you know, you can see the stats, you can see the points and what it says, but it’s the toughness, the little things that’s going to get it done. … We’ve been a good road team this year, all year, so we might as well just go ahead and try to win on the road.”

Aces’ Kelsey Plum on her turnaround from six points in Game 1 to 20 in Game 2: “A’ja cussed me out before the game. That’s all I needed. About time I joined the party. They’ve been carrying us all week, so it was good to hit some shots, but we got one more.”

Aces’ head coach Becky Hammon on whether she feels like she’s proving naysayers wrong in first year as head coach: “It’s about putting these ladies in a position to win a championship. That’s been my focus. That’s why I took this job. I felt they had the talent to do it. And I felt that I can build the relationships and build a culture the right way for us to put ourselves in a position to be able to win a championship. Like I said before, we haven’t won anything yet. All’s we did is take care of home court. We did what we were supposed to do, but I’m used to people not picking me. I don’t know if you’re aware. I just do me.”

Connecticut head coach Curt Miller on the Game 2 loss: “We just, you know, felt like we were playing catch-up all night because we couldn’t string together consecutive stops. And again, we’re trying to find disruption. We’re trying to keep this high-powered offense out of rhythm. And tonight, we really struggled to do that.”

Sun’s Jonquel Jones on mindset going home for Game 3: “We’re just taking it one game at a time now. That’s all we can do. We’re gonna go back home, like you said, we’re gonna have our fans behind us, who’ve been with us the entire season, and we’re gonna use that to propel us to win. That’s all we can do.”

Connecticut Sun vs. Las Vegas Aces, Game 2: Fourth-quarter live updates

10:00 Q4: Ahead of the fourth quarter, Kelsey Plum (20 points on 7-of-11 shooting) tells ESPN about her turnaround from her six-point performance in Game 1: “It’s new day. Shooters shoot. There’s really nothing else to say. I have confidence in myself. I have confidence in God. My team has confidence in me, my coach. It’s just a matter of time.”

6:18 Q4: Sun head coach Curt Miller calls a timeout, as nearly midway through the final quarter, Connecticut has added just two points on a pair Jonquel Jones free throws. Aces lead 74-56.

4:28 Q4: Chelsea Gray pushes the Aces’ lead to 20 points after making a 27-foot three point jumper, 80-60.

1:59 Q4: Aces starters head to the bench as Sun take 20-second TO, Aces lead 82-62.

0:00 Q4: Las Vegas wins handily, 85-71, and extends their best-of-five series lead to 2-0 and stand just one win away from a franchise-first WNBA title.

Connecticut Sun vs. Las Vegas Aces, Game 2: Third-quarter live updates

9:34: Q3: Chelsea Gray opens the scoring in the second half with a jumper from 19 feet, putting the Aces back up by 10 at 47-37 and satisfying the record-breaking, sold-out crowd (video below) at Las Vegas’ Michelob Ultra Arena.

7:11 Q3: A 7-0 run that included two buckets from Alyssa Thomas and a three-pointer from Jonquel Jones makes it a three-point game. Aces lead 49-46.

6:03 Q3: Chelsea Gray limps off the court after making a driving layup to put the Aces back out front by seven (video below). She’s got 10 points and seven assists. Gray exits at the timeout and heads back to the Aces’ locker room.

3:38 Q3: A’ja Wilson sinks a bucket from 18 feet to give Vegas another 10-point lead at 58-48. She now has 20 points, as does Kelsey Plum. Gray comes back out from the locker room (back in the game at 3:00 mark).

0:00 Q3: The Aces hold a 14-point lead for the second time during the game, heading into the fourth quarter at 68-54. Riquna Williams nailed 24-foot three-point jumper at the 22.3 mark and A’ja Wilson (22 points) added two from the line with 0.5 left.

Connecticut Sun vs. Las Vegas Aces, Game 2: Second-quarter live updates

6:59 Q2: Sun go on a 6-0 run of their own, edging closer the Aces at 23-29.

5:55 Q2: Kelsey Plum follows up a 3-pointer from 25 feet with a layup to give the Aces another double-digit lead at 34-23.

2:48 Q3: A’ja Wilson extends Vegas’ lead to 13 points (41-28) as she hits 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

19.3 Q3: The Aces call a timeout after the Sun go on a 9-2 run, cutting the deficit to six points. Aces lead 43-37.

0:00 Q3: A’ja Wilson gets a bucket with 1.6 left as the Aces take an eight-point lead into halftime (45-37). Wilson leads all scorers with 18 points, with Kelsey Plum adding 13. Jonquel Jones leads the Sun scorers at the half with 11; Courtney Williams had 10.

Connecticut Sun vs. Las Vegas Aces, Game 2: First-quarter live updates

8:26 Q1: The Sun and Aces pick up where they left off Tuesday, trading baskets as the two teams tie at 6-6 early. A’ja Wilson is first on the board again (video below).

3:45 Q1: Well more than halfway through the first quarter, the tug-of-war continues … A’ja Wilson leads all scorers with eight points, while Courtney Williams has put up six for the Sun. Tied at 14 as Las Vegas takes a timeout.

1:55 Q1: Aces go on a 7-0 run, started and capped by Chelsea Gray (video below), sandwiched around a 3-pointer from Jackie Young. Aces lead 21-14 as Sun call a timeout.

0:00 Q1: Las Vegas ends the quarter on a 9-1 run, finishing the first quarter with a 23-15 lead.

WNBA Finals Game 2: What’s at Stake

  • Now in their fifth year as the Las Vegas Aces, the franchise is looking to capture its first WNBA title under first-year head coach and 2022 WNBA Coach of the Year Becky Hammon. This marks the second time the Aces have appeared in the Finals, after losing in a three-game sweep to the Seattle Storm in 2020. Las Vegas looks to extend its lead to 2-0 before heading to Connecticut for Game 3 on Thursday.
  • The Connecticut Sun aim to get a win on the road Tuesday and even the series as they look to win the franchise’s first ever WNBA title. The Sun have previously qualified for the WNBA Finals three times (most recently in 2019).

Refresher: Wilson’s double-double leads Aces to 67-64 win over Sun in Game 1

The top-seeded Las Vegas Aces jumped out to a 1-0 series lead on Sunday with a narrow 67-64 victory of the third-seeded Connecticut Sun in their best-of-five 2022 WNBA Finals.

Newly minted 2022 WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson led Las Vegas with 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Chelsea Gray added 21 points and Jackie Young chipped in 11 as the franchise won its first WNBA Finals game in franchise history.

The Sun were led by Alyssa Thomas with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Jonquel Jones added 15 points, and Brionna Jones came off the bench to score 12.

What they’re saying ahead of Game 2 between Connecticut Sun and Las Vegas Aces:

Aces coach Becky Hammon on Game 1 win: “Obviously had a rough night offensively. Give credit to (the Sun’s) defense and give credit to us missing. I thought it was a little bit of both. But that’s a tough team. This is where they like the score to be, and we’ll go back, look at the film and make some adjustments. Happy that we won. It’s better than losing, but there’s a lot of things that we can do better.”

Hammon on A’ja Wilson: “Her leadership, who she is, she got (the) ‘it’ factor. She got ‘it’ factor. She gets it. She understands leadership. Because I don’t really know her as a person. I was watching like everybody else was watching from afar. She’s got beast skills. She’s a beast human. She’s a good one. I’ll go to battle with her any day.”

Sun coach Curt Miller on Game 1 loss: “Unfortunately the big stat line difference tonight in a lot of areas was their ability to get to the foul line and play through contact, and we struggled to get to the foul line and any kind of offensive rhythm there in the second half, and that’s a credit to their defense. But you know, really pleased with holding that high-powered offense down and got the style of play we wanted. So we are encouraged but I’m disappointed that it didn’t equate to a win.”

A’ja Wilson regarding getting the Aces’ first win under their belts: It was a game we needed. It was a game we needed not necessarily because, oh, it’s our first win. It’s because it’s something that this is huge for us. These are statement games in a way and when you are playing a good team like Conn, you have to really lock in at all costs. It was good to have a game underneath our belt. The crowd was great and now we have to get ready for Game 2.

Alyssa Thomas on her takeaways from Game 1: “After this game, we have to have a lot of confidence. I mean, this is a three-point game and we had a chance to tie. I think we are very confident and we know that all you need is one (win), and then there’s two games at our place. So, there’s some things we can clean up — of course we can make more shots — but overall we played a hard game.”

Las Vegas Aces vs. Connecticut Sun: Leading scorers ahead of WNBA Finals’ Game 2

Aces leading scorers (postseason points average):

  • Chelsea Gray, 23.6
  • A’ja Wilson, 21.0
  • Kelsey Plum, 17.0
  • Jackie Young, 12.1
  • Riquna Williams, 6.3

Sun leading scorers (postseason points average):

  • Jonquel Jones, 14.4
  • DeWanna Bonner, 12.7
  • Alyssa Thomas, 11.9
  • Brionna Jones, 10.2
  • Natisha Hiedeman, 8.7

2022 WNBA Finals Schedule: Las Vegas Aces vs. Connecticut Sun

Note: Games marked with an asterisk (*) are if necessary

  • Game 1: Sunday, Sept. 11 — Connecticut at Las Vegas
    • Las Vegas won, 67-64 (3 p.m. ET on ABC)
  • Game 2: Tuesday, Sept. 13 — Connecticut at Las Vegas 
  • Game 3: Thursday, Sept. 15 — Las Vegas at Connecticut 
  • Game 4*: Sunday, Sept. 18 — Las Vegas at Connecticut 
  • Game 5*: Tuesday, Sept. 20 — Connecticut at Las Vegas

MORE WNBA: 2022 WNBA Finals — Las Vegas vs. Connecticut schedule, how to watch, results

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