Aces Win With Stellar Bench: Evans and Loyd Lead Victory in WNBA Finals

Las Vegas Aces Dominate Game One of the WNBA Finals

In an exciting match that marked the beginning of the WNBA finals, the Las Vegas Aces, led by their coach Becky Hammon, achieved a crucial victory over the Phoenix Mercury with a score of 89-86. The key to the triumph lay in the stellar performance of the Las Vegas bench, which greatly outperformed that of Phoenix.

Before the game, Hammon praised her reserve unit, calling it “the best bench we’ve had since I’ve been here.” Her words proved prophetic, as Dana Evans and Jewell Loyd led the attack from the bench, scoring a total of 39 points between them.

Evans and Loyd’s performance made them the fifth duo in WNBA Finals history to score at least 15 points each off the bench in the same game.

We have weapons. We want to use them all because we are more difficult to defend that way,” Hammon commented. “It was a great moment for our bench to have a great game… My God, our bench was huge!

Becky Hammon, Aces Coach

The game remained close, with Las Vegas leading for only 5 minutes and 18 seconds in total. Phoenix, fueled by a standout performance from Kahleah Copper, controlled the game in the first half, reaching a lead of up to nine points. However, Las Vegas reacted and regained the lead on the scoreboard. In the final moments, Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas had the opportunity to tie the game from the free throw line, but missed both attempts. Phoenix had another chance to tie in the final seconds, but Las Vegas managed to defend and secure the victory. Las Vegas’ victory was fueled by the performance of its bench, offsetting an unusually quiet night from Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray, who failed to find their scoring rhythm. Despite not having her best shooting night, the league MVP, A’ja Wilson, contributed 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists, establishing the first 20-10-5-0 stat line in WNBA Finals history. Since the beginning of the season, Hammon has emphasized the importance of each team member contributing their part to achieve the championship. This strategy was demonstrated on Friday, when two of the Aces’ new additions shone in the crucial moments.

“We have options,” Hammon said. “Jewell has been in this league for a long time, but Dana is a scorer. She’s a problem.

Becky Hammon, Aces Coach

Evans, for her part, revealed that Hammon has encouraged her to be more aggressive in her shots. The player responded with five three-pointers, tying Riquna Williams’ (2019) record for the most three-pointers off the bench in a WNBA Finals game.

Dana is our battery,” Wilson said. “She makes us play at a different pace. I told her we’re going at her pace, and that’s a fast pace, but we’re always going to try to keep up with her, because we know she’s very hard to stop in this league.

A’ja Wilson, Aces Player

The Aces’ defense was also key to their success. Las Vegas switched to a zone defense midway through the third quarter, which made it difficult for Phoenix to play, as they only made 1 of 8 shots in the final quarter.

Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts admitted his team didn’t handle the switch to zone defense well. Wilson commented that the team was a bit surprised to learn of the defensive change, as it’s not something they use frequently. Also, Phoenix lost the turnover battle (14 against 7), resulting in 20 points for the Aces. The Mercury are once again down 0-1 in a series, joining the 2002 New York Liberty as the only teams to lose three Game 1s in a single postseason. However, they have won all other games. Phoenix hopes this is a good omen for the rest of the Finals, the first in league history with a best-of-seven format. Copper commented on the lessons learned from previous defeats in Game 1, stating that the team has the utmost confidence in their coaches to make the necessary adjustments.