Las Vegas Aces shed 'frustrating' first half, post Game 1 win over Connecticut Sun in WNBA Finals

LAS VEGAS — Generally, Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon is not a screamer. She will get her point across, for sure, but if she can do it in the measured, even vocal tones she's known for, that's what she prefers.

But sometimes circumstances — in this case Game 1 of the best-of-five WNBA Finals — call for a different approach. The Aces won a Finals game for the first time in franchise history, topping the Connecticut Sun 67-64 here Sunday, and they did it with a second half fueled by a halftime torching from their coach.

«Oh, I was lit,» Hammon said of her talk in the locker room with the No. 1 seed Aces. «Because everything we had talked about, we didn't do any of it. And true to form, they just step up and do it then.

»I don't even yell in my real life. But when you feel so strongly about how you have to play a certain way… and you don't execute it, it's frustrating. But at the end of the day, they know it. They are smart. They get it."

The Aces got another dynamic-duo performance from season MVP A'ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray, who has made a case thus far as the top WNBA player in the postseason. Wilson had 24 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots, while Gray had 21 points and three assists.

Gray also drew a late charge; her offense isn't the only thing that has stolen the show in the WNBA playoffs. Hammon called it the play of the afternoon.

Gray and Wilson were asked to paraphrase what Hammon said to them at halftime, but both declined.

«We have children watching,» Gray joked, and Wilson added, «You mean you didn't hear?»

«She was just on us to play our style defensively,» Gray continued. «We were letting them get offensive rebounds, easy scores, turning over the ball. That's the edited version. I can't give you