“It was just a really great time for our bench to come up and have a big game because I think you saw a little bit of fatigue from Jackie and Asia, who kind of carried us through that last Game 5.” Those were the words of coach Becky Hammon after the Aces’ 89-86 win over the Mercury in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. Las Vegas successfully defended their home court, but this wasn’t another Jackie Young–A’ja Wilson special.

The Aces had 41 points from the bench as opposed to the Mercury’s 16, which effectively set the tone for the victory. A’ja Wilson was quick to praise the bench too, saying, “Yeah, I mean they are, they are our key factors. I’ve said multiple times that Dana’s our battery. She makes us play at a different pace. And also, when it comes to Jewell, this is, this has always been Jewell. These two people particularly are two of the most hard-working people that I see in practice.”

(This is a developing news…)