Lucas Peltier/USA TODAY Sports
LAS VEGAS — Aces coach Becky Hammon was prepared for the Sun to make the 2022 WNBA Finals a “sludgy” affair. She expected Connecticut to “muck the game up” and have it be a “slugfest,” and that in a series of contrasting styles her team had to find ways to be successful matching the physicality of what is very likely the league’s best frontcourt. Hammon’s team was able to do just that Sunday, as Las Vegas claimed Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, 67–64.
Before Sunday’s contest, sparklers and flames shot out from above both basket stanchions in a show of theatrics inside Michelob Ultra Arena, a display fitting for the series opener’s setting. And immediately after tip-off, the Aces, in the words of Sun coach Curt Miller, “shot out of a cannon,” jumping out to a 21–9 lead just under six minutes into the game as the league’s best offense emerged in full force.
