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PHOENIX — The message has been clear from coach Becky Hammon the past four years.
The Aces are at their best when playing tough defense. It’s what’s made them a dynasty.
The team will try to focus on those words when the WNBA Finals move to Mortgage Matchup Center for Wednesday’s Game 3. The Aces, with a win, can take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“I think we started to really play out of (our defense in Game 2),” four-time MVP A’ja Wilson said. “We had some hiccups here and there, but I think that’s what we hung ourselves on.”
It’s a simple formula. The Aces win when their defense is at its best. They’re 22-3, regular season and playoffs, when allowing fewer than 80 points.
They’re 15-14 when giving up 80 or more, including their three losses this postseason.
The Aces would like to avoid giving up 86 points to the Mercury like they did in Game 1. Holding Phoenix to 78, like they did in Game 2, is more ideal.
Slow starts
The Aces also want to get off to a better start in Game 3.
They fell behind 10-2 in the early minutes of Game 1 and trailed 9-2 in Game 2. Their home crowd helped them rally both times to move two wins away from their third title in four years.
The Aces won’t have the same luxury Wednesday. The Phoenix crowd is expected to be loud from the opening tip to give the desperate home side a boost.
“Our starts in Vegas were awful,” Wilson said. “We know we can’t come in here and do that. It’s (their) home and it’s a different type of feel. Defensively, we’ve got to lock in.”
Wilson felt the Aces started to get back to their defensive identity in Game 2, when they held the Mercury to 10 points in the second quarter.
But they need that same intensity from the jump in Game 3.
“I don’t know if we have to marinate a little bit. I don’t know what it is,” point guard Chelsea Gray said about the Aces’ slow starts. “But our mentality hasn’t really changed. We want to do everything to put (ourselves) in a position to win the game and not think of the series.”
In command
The Aces went up 2-0 their previous two trips to the Finals in 2022 and 2023. They closed out both championships in four games when the series was a best-of-five.
Game 3 has been their Achilles’ heel. The Aces lost both of their previous Game 3s in the Finals. Doing so again could give the Mercury hope heading into Game 4 now that the series is a best-of-seven.
The Aces know Phoenix’s stars will come out swinging at home.
Guard Kahleah Copper and forwards Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas will want to rebound after disappointing Game 2s. That means the Aces will need to dig in on defense if they want to put a stranglehold on this series.
“Offense is great, but definitely in the playoffs, you’ve got to be able to stop people,” guard Jewell Loyd said. “We know they can score fast, quick and often. So we’re trying to figure out how to stop that and slow them down.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
Up next
Who: Aces at Mercury
What: WNBA Finals, Game 3
When: 5 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Mortgage Matchup Center, Phoenix
TV: ESPN
Radio: KWWN (1100 AM, 100.9 FM)
Line: Mercury -4; total 163½
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