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Aces’ Chelsea Gray, Kiah Stokes out for Game 4 of WNBA Finals vs. Liberty – The Athletic

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1 year ago

October 18, 2023

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WNBA
Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray and center Kiah Stokes are out for Game 4 of the WNBA Finals against the New York Liberty with foot injuries, Aces coach Becky Hammon announced Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know:
Chelsea Gray is out for Game 4 with what she called a left foot injury. Gray is waiting till the team gets back to Vegas to make a decision on a potential Game 5. pic.twitter.com/ytNZrqmcpp
— Ben Pickman (@benpickman) October 17, 2023

Gray said the Aces currently have a “pissed-off locker room” as they prepare for Wednesday’s Game 4. Star forward A’ja Wilson agreed with that characterization, saying the team “played like s—” in Game 3 and that she doesn’t “think this locker room is happy at all.” Gray said that although she will watch from the sideline, she plans on being a voice on the bench. She plans on being in huddles and said she “probably will not have a voice at the end of the game” because of how much she plans to be involved, even if she can’t physically perform.
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“It’s just a very unfortunate situation and I know she’s going to continue to lead us,” guard Kelsey Plum said. “It might be in a different way, but she’s not just gonna go away.”
Hammon says that Stokes is a “high pain tolerance person” and was playing in a lot of pain Sunday, to the point that the coach didn’t even realize her starting center was gutting it out until watching the film afterward. Stokes said that in recent days she woke up feeling pain in her right foot. Tuesday is the first day she was wearing a walking boot, she said. Hammon said Stokes would not play in Game 4, and Stokes would not rule herself out for Game 5 if the series does extend to a deciding game.
The Aces currently have eight healthy players, four of whom have not been consistent parts of the playoff rotation in Kierstan Bell, Alaina Coates, Sydney Colson and Cayla George. They are not currently eligible for another hardship contract for Game 4.
The short answer is that matching Gray and Stokes’ production will be a collective effort. “There’s no replacing either of them,” Plum said. “There’s no magic wand you can wave. There’s just not.”
Plum said the injury absence of Gray and Stokes is “definitely an opportunity for people to step up.” More onus will be placed on her, and teammate Jackie Young, to playmake with her backcourt partner sidelined.
Stokes has been an anchor of the team’s league-leading defense since entering the starting lineup in place of Candace Parker. Wilson even shared her Defensive Player of the Year award with Stokes when she was presented the trophy during the second round of the playoffs. The Aces enjoy playing their small lineups, but they’re at their best when Stokes helps the defense wall off the paint.
Cayla George, the 34-year-old veteran from Australia who has played just 18 minutes over seven playoff games this season, is projected to earn the start in Stokes’ absence.
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“We’ve definitely been talking, basically the second half of the season, when she gets in, what she can do, what she should and shouldn’t do, or (about) guarding a certain player,” Stokes said about George. “I’m definitely trying to talk to her if she has any questions. I’m definitely here to answer what I can.”
Coates, who joined the team on a hardship contract in August after Parker’s foot surgery, will also see some minutes in the frontcourt after suiting up for just 41 minutes as an Ace. This is a reversal of fortunes for Coates, who wasn’t able to play as a college senior in South Carolina’s national championship run but now will be relied on to be that injury replacement.
The Aces have been dealing with absences the entire season — from the start of training camp, they were playing with 10 players and have never had a fully healthy roster. Even if the challenge awaiting the team Wednesday is the steepest yet, it’s what they have been preparing for.
“Everyone’s had to step up in different roles at different points in the season,” forward Alysha Clark said Tuesday. Clark is expected to move into the starting lineup in Game 4.
“When you have a collective mentality and mindset from the jump, which we did from the first day of training camp. It’s not something you have to scramble and try to fix and find,” she said. “Now at the end of the season, like we are, it’s already been established. It’s there, it’s our culture. It’s who we are as people, who we are as teammates. So it’s easy. Everybody’s ready.”
(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)