Sports
Wilson, Aces sweep Sky in WNBA playoffs; Lynx force Game 3 with … – USA TODAY
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A’ja Wilson scored a playoff career-high 38 points to help the defending-champion Las Vegas Aces finish off a first-round sweep of the Chicago Sky with a 92-70 victory on Sunday.
The Aces, who beat Chicago 87-59 in the first game of the best-of-3 series, will play either the No. 4 seed Dallas Wings or the fifth-seeded Atlanta Dream in the semifinals. Game 1 will be played in Las Vegas next Sunday. The Wings lead their series 1-0 with Game 2 on Tuesday in Dallas.
Wilson sank 15 of 23 shots from the floor and made 8 of 10 from the free-throw line. She added 16 rebounds for her first double-double this postseason after notching six in last year’s championship run — and three steals. Jackie Young pitched in with 15 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals. Alysha Clark totaled 14 points and six boards, while Kelsey Plum scored 10.
Wilson had 10 points, Young scored seven and Las Vegas took a 23-14 lead after one quarter and never looked back. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft had 19 points and nine rebounds by halftime and the Aces led 44-29. Las Vegas finished 5-0 against the eighth-seeded Sky this season.
Kahleah Copper had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead Chicago. Dana Evans came off the bench to score 22. Marina Mabrey added 15 points.
The Sky shot 38.5% from the floor after a 33.3% effort in Game 1.
WNBA PLAYOFFS:First-round scores, schedules, matchups, predictions
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Kayla McBride scored 28 points and Napheesa Collier added 26 points and 13 rebounds as the Minnesota Lynx beat the Connecticut Sun 82-75 on Sunday to force a deciding Game 3 of their first-round playoff series.
Alyssa Thomas scored 26 points and DeWanna Bonner added 24 for the No. 3 seeded Sun, who won the first game of the series by 30 points on Wednesday, but now must win a road game to advance.
“We love our fanbase and we do feel like that’s an advantage for us,” Collier said.
The Lynx led by six points at halftime and stretched that to 16 with the help of a 12-0 run in the third quarter, highlighted by the fifth of McBride’s six 3-pointers. Her layup made it 65-49.
But the Sun responded with a run of their own and trailed only by 65-60 headed into the fourth quarter.
A 3-pointer from Bonner cut the lead to 76-73 with 2½ minutes to play, but the Lynx made several big defensive stops and scored the next six points to put the game away.
Connecticut, which shot 16-for-30 from behind the arc in the Game 1, hit just seven of it 20 attempts on Sunday, while the Lynx, led by McBride, were 9 of 24.
Both teams had injury scares in what was a physical game.
Bonner had 18 points before taking an elbow to the nose late in the third quarter with the Sun trailing by five points.
Collier also was injured earlier in that quarter and also spent a short time in the locker room after leaving the court holding her lower back.
The No. 3 seed Sun are looking to advance to the semifinals for the fifth consecutive season after winning a team record 27-games during the regular season in what many thought would be a rebuilding year under first-year coach Stephanie White, who was honored Sunday as the WNBA’s coach of the year.