Becky Hammon Sends Blunt Message With Aces' Season on the Line

Las Vegas scored 11 points in the first quarter Wednesday night and 26 in the fourth. The Aces lost Game 2 of their WNBA semifinal series to Golden State 83-81 in San Francisco and now trail 2-0 in the best-of-five series.

Game 3 is Friday at Michelob ULTRA Arena. A loss ends the defending champions' season.

Aces coach Becky Hammon is not trying any reverse psychology on her team before an elimination game.

"I can't convince them that this is not a must-win, because if we lose we go home, and we stay home," Hammon said. "The goal is to get one quarter at a time and we've got to string it together. We know we're capable of stringing three in a row."

Golden State led 19-11 after the first quarter. By halftime it was 42-31, and the margin reached 17 at its widest.

In the Game 1 loss on Sunday, Las Vegas shot 33.9% from the field and scored 60 points. The Aces shot 43.9% in Game 2, made eight of their 19 3-point attempts, and finished with 19 assists to Golden State's 12.

Hammon said Golden State is the top defensive team in the league.

"We were back to not really moving the ball as much," Hammon explained. "We weren't able to penetrate and get the ball out as much with attacking closeouts. They're the number-one team defensively, and you have to make them work. Especially in the fourth quarter, we did not make them work hard enough with the actions and being intentional."

Stephanie Talbot played her first game of the series after missing Game 1. She scored 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting, made both of her 3-point attempts, and grabbed four rebounds.

Talbot said the Aces did not return the favor on the other end.

"I think obviously they won that battle," Talbot said. "We scored 11 points in the first quarter, which is probably not going to cut it. They took away what we wanted, made us do things that were uncomfortable with, made us take tough shots and just made our lives tough. And we didn't do that to them on the other end."

Kalani Brown came off the bench for nine points and a game-high eight rebounds, with three of those rebounds on the offensive glass. Hammon said Golden State started to run thin on bigs.

"Just trying to score the basketball," Hammon said. "That's what I wanted out of it, and to mix up some looks defensively. Kalani is a big target. They started to run thin on bigs, and we got them into some foul trouble trying to handle those bigs. So there were some good things to take from it."

Two Golden State centers, Aminata Gueye and Kiah Stokes, finished with five fouls apiece.

Golden State outrebounded Las Vegas 52-25 in Game 1 and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds to the Aces' two. The margin in Game 2 was 30-25.

Brown has seen the Valkyries' guards crash the glass along with their post players.

"We all have to box out," Brown said. "It's not just their post players getting it; their guards are flying in there too. They're a very scrappy team, and we just have to be scrappy with them, get on the floor for those ugly long rebounds from threes and have those 50-50 balls. Win the glass. And if you win the glass, you win the series. So we just have to do that."

Jewell Loyd missed Game 2 with a left leg injury.

A'ja Wilson, a four-time MVP, scored 24 points. Chelsea Gray added 19 points and six assists, and Jackie Young scored 14 with eight assists and four steals. In the series-clinching 94-83 win over the Indiana Fever in the first round, Wilson, Gray, and Young combined for 77 points.

Las Vegas, the No. 3 seed, won all three regular-season meetings with Golden State. The last was a 92-73 win in Las Vegas on June 21.

Las Vegas won the title last season.

"It should help, but all the experience, records and championships won't carry over," Hammon said. "You have to do this work every time you step on the court. Our comeback at the end doesn't carry over, and their early threes don't carry over. Everybody has to come to work and do the work over again. My group understands that."

Atlanta also leads its semifinal 2-0 after beating New York in overtime in Game 2.

Tip-off for Game 3 is 9:30 p.m. ET Friday, Oct. 9, on Peacock and NBCSN. If Las Vegas wins, Game 4 is Sunday, Oct. 11, at Michelob ULTRA Arena.