Aces Spoil Sue Bird’s Near-Buzzer Beater in Wild Overtime Win

A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young combined clutch performances to put Las Vegas one win away from the WNBA finals.

Despite trailing 89–85 with 11.3 seconds to play in regulation, the Aces rallied late in the fourth quarter and blitzed the Storm in overtime to claim Game 3 of their WNBA semifinal series. 2020 league MVP A’ja Wilson played every second and scored a game-high 34 points in the 110–98 win, while star guard Chelsea Gray added 29 to help Las Vegas take a 2–1 series lead over Seattle. Here are three takeaways from Sunday’s thriller.

A’ja Wilson put forth a gusty performance to put Las Vegas one win away from the WNBA finals

The Storm are struggling to contain Wilson

After scoring merely eight points in the Aces’ Game 1 loss, Wilson has exploded in each of the last two contests. In Game 2, she totaled 33 points on an efficient 12-of-18 shooting from the floor. Then, on Sunday in Game 3, she again missed just six shots, converting 14 of her 20 looks from the field while adding six points from the free throw line. Wilson’s success is not necessarily a surprise, both considering her distinguished resume and also her per-game averages of 22.8 points and 11.8 rebounds against Seattle during the regular season.

Seattle centers Tina Charles and Ezi Magbegor have both struggled mightily to slow her down in the each of the last two games, especially around the rim. While in the regular season, 26.4% of Wilson’s points against the Storm came in the mid-range and 44% came in the paint, she has been more dynamic around the basket this series, with 61.3% of her points coming in the paint and only 13.3% coming from mid-range. If Seattle can’t make Wilson uncomfortable in the paint in Game 4, it’s hard to see this matchup getting a fifth game.

Chelsea Gray continues her scorching hot run

Gray entered this series playing her best basketball at the perfect time. The 29-year-old guard averaged 20.8 points and 6.4 assists of the final five games of the regular season. Such success then transferred over to the playoffs, where Gray put up an efficient 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field in Game 1 over Phoenix, and an even more prolific 27-point, eight-assist outing, while missing only two of her 11 shots, in the Aces’ series-clinching Game 2 win.

Against Seattle, Gray has scored 21, 19 and 29 points, respectively, She was far more than just a scorer on Sunday, however. Instead, Gray also led the Aces with 12 assists and finished with just one turnover. She was the best guard on the court in Game 3—per ESPN Stats and Info, she scored or assisted on 59 of Las Vegas’ 110 points—, and her performance is a central reason for why Las Vegas finds itself one win away from a WNBA Finals berth. 

The Aces’ dominant overtime overshadows Bird’s heroics

For a brief second it seemed as if Sue Bird had added another iconic shot to her already prolific resume. With Seattle having surrendered the lead with 2.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter following a Wilson layup, Bird knocked down a corner three-pointer, much to the delight of the home crowd. It looked like that shot, which put Seattle up by two, would be the difference and give Seattle a 2–1 lead—until a layup by 2022 Most Improved Player Jackie Young evened the score and pushed the contest to overtime.

While the Storm hung with the Aces for the first two minutes of the extra session—Las Vegas only led 97–96 with 2:51 to play in the period—a three-point explosion helped lift the league’s No. 1 seed past its opponent. The Aces made five consecutive field goal attempts from the 2:35 mark in overtime until there were only 13 seconds left, when Gray missed a three-pointer with the game’s margin sitting at 12. The offensive blitz from the WNBA’s top-scoring offense came at a decisive time and could prove to be the key two-plus minute stretch that changes the complexion of the series. Bird finished Game 3 with 17 points and eight assists. She’ll look to have similar success later this week, as Game 4 is set for Tuesday at 10 p.m. E.T.