A’ja Wilson walked into Game 1 against the #2-seeded Golden State Valkyries at the top of her game. She had just buried the Indiana Fever in Game 3 of the first round with a 36-point double-double on uber-efficient shooting, and despite the Valkyries holding the best defense in the league, it would be astounding to not see her dominate. However, she finished with just 24 points because Gabby Williams and Co. were prepared.

As the #3-seeded Aces were routed 71-60, Wilson was considerably slowed down, a strategy that the Valkyries are looking to replicate in Game 2.

“She’s A’ja, so she’s going to get hers,” Williams told ESPN’s Jorge Sedano during an interview on NBA Today, which was posted to X.

“But we just want to make sure we make it as difficult as possible. You know, as long as she’s making tough shots, that’s the goal. Add on multiple bodies, you know, that’s kind of all you can do.”

Wilson finished Game 1 with 24 points on 21 shots, logging just 38.1% shooting from the field while being held to four rebounds. The difference between her performance against the Valkyries and the Fever is night and day.

Wilson had ended the first-round series against Indiana averaging 32 points per game, but the Valkyries had a significant advantage over her team. Instead of trying to defend her one-on-one like the Fever, Golden State drew a different plan.

Wilson’s primary matchup was defensive mastermind Kiah Stokes. Stokes had a key advantage: she was Wilson’s backup until last season, including their three championship squads, and knew her moves intimately. However, instead of leaving her on an island, the Valkyries kept bringing in help defenders, forcing the rest of the Aces to beat them without Wilson dominating. It worked.

The 60 points Vegas scored were the lowest total the team logged all season, and they were also held to a season-worst 33.9% from the field (21-for-62 shooting). Golden State head coach Natalie Nakase was full of praise for Stokes, who she saw as the “MVP of the game.”

“Her disruption, her matching up with A’ja, it’s a really tough task,” Nakase said.

“She did an amazing job; just continue to keep her off rhythm as much as we can. … Kiah was vicious on the boards; her ability I thought today was emptying that tank. That’s the Kiah Stokes we know. For sure, she made the difference today.”

Nakase is also no stranger to the Aces. She was an assistant coach under Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon for three seasons and won two championships with her. Like Stokes, she is very familiar with Wilson, and that played a part in slowing her down.

Sending multiple defenders to Wilson will create chances elsewhere, and since the Valkyries are doing their best to slow her down, the rest of the team must make the defense pay. Jackie Young is one of the first players her team will turn to do so, and she has shown the ability to light up the offense.

In the regular season matchups against the Valkyries, Young averaged 23.7 points and 6.3 assists per game on 59.1% from the field and 60.9% from three. However, she was held to just 11 points on 4-for-15 shooting in Game 1, and that disparity could be the downfall for the Aces in Game 2, as the Valkyries look to extend their lead in the best-of-five series.

However, that’s not the only advantage the Valkyries have in this matchup.

Golden State’s Rebounding Formula Puts Aces on the Back Foot

The most important strength the Valkyries used against the Aces was their size and rebounding, which was perhaps the defining factor of their Game 1 win. After the game, Williams highlighted how much of a focus the team had on rebounding.

“[Video Coordinator] Daisy [Feder] was constantly telling me just crash, crash, crash,” she said.

Williams was one of three players who logged double-digit boards for her team, with her and Kayla Thornton finishing with 11. Stokes was the third, logging 14 rebounds.

The team used their size in an interesting experiment. Nakase rolled out a lineup that had both Stokes and backup big Amanita Gueye, a combination that had only shared the court for two minutes during the regular season. It paid off.

Golden State outrebounded the Aces 52-25 and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds to the Aces’ two. They converted them into 20 second-chance points, accounting for 28.1% of their point total.

This has been a major weakness for the three-time champion Aces since they lost NaLyssa Smith to a season-ending non-contact injury earlier this year. Smith was a consistent front-court presence at 6’4″ and helped take the pressure off Wilson on the glass, where she averaged the second-most boards on the team with 6.4.

Last season, the Aces went 22-6 after adding Smith via trade after starting the season 8-8. With her missing, along with forward Stephanie Talbot, the team does not have a reliable inside presence to help Wilson.

The Valkyries will look to extend their 1-0 lead when they take on the Aces on October 7 at home. Only time will tell if Gabby Williams and Co. can successfully replicate their Game 1 domination, but they clearly have a plan in mind.