By Rich Perez
Friday evening the Las Vegas Aces faced their biggest challenge of the season. Trailing 2-0 in their semi-final matchup with the Golden State Valkyries tonight’s game is a win or go home scenario. In the first two games of this series, they struggled defensively not playing their best ball by any stretch of the imagination. This series. began at Chase Center in games one and twio and tonight’s game will at the Aces home court, Michelob ULTRA Arena. With a win tonight, the Aces will play game four at home.
The Aces had the lead after the first quarter 19-16 their first lead of this series. They went on to extend their lead 45-36 at the half outscoring the Valkyries 26-20 in a hotly contested first half of basketball.
Golden State began to turn this game around in the third quarter taking their first lead of the game 53-52 in this high stakes contest. Going into the all-important fourth quarter the Aces needed to prevail or face the end of their season. They would be fighting to stay alive in this series.
The Aces barely outscored Golden State 19-18 in the fourth quarter and as the clock ran out on regulation this game was tied at 71.
Las Vegas stumbled through the overtime losing the game 87-77 and the series. It had been a real struggle for the Aces in these semi-finals. The Valkyries are headed to the WNBA finals taking on the Atlanta Dream who also swept their series with the New York Liberty today.
GAME RECAP
The Las Vegas Aces faced their biggest challenge of the season taking on the second-seeded Golden State Valkyries facing elimination. They came out with a lot of energy playing at home their sixth player of sorts. The Arena was bursting at the seams as fans watched the Aces as they took their first lead after a first quarter in this series 19-16. The Aces came out strong realizing they were on the edge of a precipice and had to win this game pushing the series into a game four.
They outscored the Valkyries in the second quarter 26-20 and led at the half 45-36. They were dictating the game with a lot of pace in the first half and would be looking to push that even further in the second half of the game. There would be changes in the second half for Golden State looking to turn the game around and the Aces would need to defend those changes.
The Aces largest led of the game had been the nine points. The Valkyries had scored more points in the paint than Las Vegas although the Aces were shooting at 54% to the Golden State’s 40%. Las Vegas was looking more like themselves in game three. They would be looking to limit the turnovers in the second half.
A’Ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray were the only two players in double digits in the first half for both teams. Wilson had 11 and Gray with 15.
In the early minutes of the third quarter, the Aces took their first double digit lead of the game 47-36. The Valkyries fought back and with just over three minutes left on the clock it was a one-point game Golden State taking a 48-47 lead their first of the night. The Valkyries continued to extend their lead and when the quarter came to an end they had a slim one-point lead 53-52. The Aces offense was faltering and the Valkyries were really heating up. Golden State had outscored the Aces in the quarter 17-7 and Las Vegas had to turn that around.
So far in this game, the Valkyries Gabby Williams had been held to only 6 points. Mid-way through the fourth quarter the Aces had taken a 62-57 lead. This would be a photo-finish. It had been a relatively low-scoring game for the Aces big three, Wilson, Young and Gray despite leading. The Las Vegas Aces bench had also been quiet.
The Valkyries started to match the Aces point for point and with three minutes left in the game; it was up for grabs. The Aces were hanging onto a 69-63 lead with just under three left on the clock. The Las Vegas “big three” would have to step up like never before. A Wilson turnover resulted in a Golden State basket that tied up this game at 69 with under two minutes left in the game. Las Vegas continued to sputter offensively. The Valkyries took a 71-69 lead with 32.8 seconds left in this game. The next Las Vegas possession would be critical and they could ill-afford any more misses. Jackie Young tied up the game at 71 with 26 ticks left in this game. With 3.9 left on the clock the Aces had the final possession of regulation. Las Vegas was not able to cash in and this game went into overtime; five more minutes of basketball.
The Valkyries turned it into another gear in the overtime taking a 79-73 lead. Mistakes at the end of the game turned it all in the Valkyries favor. With under a minute left in the game, Gabby Williams hit the clincher giving Golden State an 81-73 lead. The final was 87-77 and the Valkyries had swept the defending champs and were headed into the WNBA finals.
GAME NOTES
The Las Vegas Aces got off to a strong start with A’Ja Wilson leading the way. This was a close game particularly in the second half with Golden State staying within striking distance. Some Aces misses late in the game allowed the Valkyries to take the lead and start taking control.
The biggest reason for the Aces loss was that Golden State was able to keep the pressure on Las Vegas and finish the game stronger.
It was especially disappointing for Las Vegas being the defending champs and needed this win to keep their championship hopes alive. The Golden State Defense made it difficult for A’Ja Wilson. They used their length and physical defense to force Wilson to work really hard for her shots. Former Ace Kiah Stokes knew Las Vegas’s offensive patterns and helped to make life pretty miserable for Wilson. She had an amazing series. The Valkyries had more scoring help; their bench outscored the Aces off the bench 34-14.
The Aces just plain struggled to put together a complete game. They came so very close in game two and had a nice first half in this game but could not close it out. They had a fall behind and try to catch pattern that put so much pressure on their offense. A’Ja Wilson was 3 of 14 in the second half. The Valkyries put a lot of pressure on Wilson who finished with 21 points, Young with18 and Gray with 17.
It has been a great season for the Las Vegas Aces that ended in a most unexpected way. We all look forward to another winning season from this team in 2027. We as always appreciate having the opportunity to cover this amazing team.
