The Aces Took the Scenic Route to the Finals
The Las Vegas Aces are back in the WNBA Finals, but this year's journey felt less like a smooth flight and more like a cross-country road trip with multiple flat tires and questionable roadside diners. After surviving a brutal Game 5 against the resilient, but hilariously short-handed, Indiana Fever, the Aces won 107-98 in overtime, securing their fourth Finals trip in six years.
The Broken Road Trip
This season, the Aces proved that even championship contenders sometimes have to embrace the chaos. A’ja Wilson summed up the difference best: "We went through the mud for this. Like Coach always says, we weren't necessarily buried, we were planted." Coach Becky Hammon, feeling musical, immediately replied with a quote from Rascal Flatts, declaring, "Our road has been broken." Clearly, the Aces’ dramatic journey this season warrants a country music ballad.
The decisive Game 5 was a prime example of their difficult path. A’ja Wilson (35 points) and Jackie Young (30 points, 10 assists, 0 turnovers—a winner-take-all record!) were absolute studs, becoming the first pair of teammates in WNBA history to top 30 points in the same playoff game. Yet, somehow, they couldn't shake a Fever team playing without five injured players—a squad so short-handed they almost qualified for a competitive hardship contract just to play the Finals.
The Role Players' Revenge
The Fever played their hearts out, even after losing leading scorer Kelsey Mitchell in the third quarter to "lower body cramping" (which sounds suspiciously like sheer exhaustion from carrying a team). After the Fever tied the game in the final seconds of regulation, the entire game swung in overtime when the Aces' superstars finally took a break.
The extra session belonged to the walking wounded and the role players. Chelsea Gray—who returned to the game after a dramatic ankle re-taping—scored a clutch 9 points in OT. Jewell Loyd added 5 points, reminding everyone why the Aces brought her over. Meanwhile, the Fever were forced to watch as their final star, Aliyah Boston, fouled out with a massive double-double, leaving the court with the look of a player who had just finished running a marathon carrying a piano.
The journey might have been a "twisty, windy one," but the Aces found their way to the Finals, where they will host the first-ever best-of-seven series against the Phoenix Mercury.
