Chelsea Gray Is Somehow Even Better Than Before
The Liberty had not lost back-to-back games all season long. That was until New York ran into an absolutely dominant Aces team in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals. After a crushing Game 1 defeat, Sandy Brondello’s team needed a compelling response. Instead, Las Vegas took the floor even more pumped up than in the Finals opener, riding a massive Wednesday night outing to a crushing 104–76 blowout.
One win away from clinching back-to-back titles (Las Vegas would be the first team to do so since the Sparks in 2001–02), the Aces look more inevitable than ever. Even more daunting, there doesn’t appear to be a weak link in Becky Hammon’s lineup, with all five starters contributing meaningful numbers to jump-start Las Vegas’s Finals campaign. A’ja Wilson put up a game-high 26 points and pulled down 15 boards, Jackie Young drained an impressive 24 points, while Kelsey Plum added 23 points, making five of her eight attempted threes. But one player kept it all together, running the Aces’ offense with impressive efficiency: the “Point Gawd” herself, Chelsea Gray.
John Locher/AP
As the 2022 WNBA Finals MVP, it was probably a safe bet that Gray would show up for her team on the biggest stage. But her execution in Game 2 was on a different caliber, raising her own very high postseason bar. The 31-year-old recorded a double double of her own, with 14 points and 11 rebounds while pulling the strings of her team’s humming offense. Gray was nothing short of a walking highlight reel, creating shots for herself, tossing no-look dimes and connecting on improbable passes.
Are you kidding me @cgray209 ????#WNBAFinals | @YouTubeTV pic.twitter.com/chyvzNY3DP
— WNBA (@WNBA) October 12, 2023
The @LVAces set a new WNBA Finals 1Qscoring record with 38 PTS ????#WNBAFinals | @YouTubeTV | #PhantomCam pic.twitter.com/zXteyNft6z
— WNBA (@WNBA) October 12, 2023
Gray & Co. put on a show so awe-inspiring, that it left even the typically effusive Aces coach at a loss for words. “I thought we played great tonight,” said Hammon. “They don’t leave me speechless very often, but they executed defensively, offensively, shared it, everything we’ve been asking them to do.” When presented with the idea that this could be the team’s best performance in her two years in Las Vegas, Hammon channeled her former boss Gregg Popovich: “My wine will taste better tonight,” while emphasizing the importance of not getting too high in the middle of a series.
Hammon wasn’t the only one heaping praise on this Aces squad, with former Monarchs star and four-time WNBA All-Star Ticha Penicheiro responding to a post on X (formerly Twitter) deeming Gray the best passer in women’s basketball. “She’s better!!! No doubt….she can have that crown!!” wrote Penicheiro. Her scoring may be down—and not by much—from the 2022 postseason, with Gray averaging a monster 21.7 points behind 61.1% shooting through last year’s 10 playoff games, but she’s found other ways to impact the game. Through Gray’s seven postseason games played, her rebounds (from 3.8 to 5.0 per game) and assists (from 7.0 to 7.4 per game) are both up from the ’22 campaign. She’s done so while attracting the attention of New York’s best perimeter defender in Betnijah Laney, and acting as the coal in Las Vegas’s rumbling offensive engine. “I wear my passing ability on my sleeve; that’s what I’ve worked so hard to be able to develop my whole career,” Gray said in response to Penicheiro’s kudos, calling the WNBA veteran a legend.
The “best-ever” and “all-time” designations being thrown around may feel like a lot, but that’s just how good the Aces are playing. Posting a WNBA Finals record 38 first-quarter points, scoring 203 points in back-to-back games against one of the league’s best defenses and rendering one of the most star-studded superteams the W has ever seen completely ineffective—it’s hard not to exalt this group. If the Aces can do the once unthinkable and sweep the Liberty, capturing Game 3 in Brooklyn, then this team is deserving of dynasty talk that is certain to follow. And should Gray add a third ring to her hardware haul, there is a case to be made that she is one of the best, if not the best, floor generals to ever play the game.