Aces heed call to get 'feisty,' tie series in blowout

LAS VEGAS -- Aces manager Becky Hammon said the physicality of her team's semifinal bid against the Indiana Fever has been "out of control" pursuing Las Vegas' 90-68 Game 2 triumph to adjacent the best-of-five bid astatine 1-1.

"I mean, you tin bump and drawback a wide receiver successful the NFL for those archetypal 5 yards, but you tin bash it successful the W for the full half-court," Hammon said. "You enactment 2 hands connected idiosyncratic similar that, it should beryllium an automatic foul. The state of movement, there's nary freedom. And I'm not saying that we're not fouling, too, not saying that. I'm saying it's retired of control.

"Most of my assistants travel from the NBA, and they're like, 'This would not alert successful the NBA. ... There'd beryllium fights.' We conscionable person precise well-mannered women that tin get to the adjacent play."

There were 41 fouls called successful Game 2, including 16 successful the 3rd quarter, and 27 called successful Game 1. The Aces took 21 escaped throws connected Tuesday compared with 15 for the Fever.

Hammon antecedently called retired what she believed was an overly carnal first-round bid betwixt the Fever and the Atlanta Dream, deeming it a "football match" and saying "some of the hits that I saw successful the Atlanta-Indiana game, if I did that to you successful the street, I would beryllium arrested."

The officiating was a constituent of contention for Fever manager Stephanie White aft Game 2, arsenic well, albeit for antithetic reasons.

"It's hard for america to find travel erstwhile there's a foul called each 10 seconds," White said. "I mean, it conscionable truly is, and erstwhile they're astatine the escaped propulsion line, we can't get up and down the floor, and that's a challenge."

Players connected some sides spoke to the carnal quality of playoffs successful general.

"It feels similar a carnal crippled each game," said Indiana's Lexie Hull, who finished with 15 points including 5 3-pointers. "It feels similar it's been a carnal season. I consciousness similar I've been connected the crushed a small spot much this bid truthful far. We conscionable support getting backmost up."

"Yeah, it's playoffs. Very carnal games," said Las Vegas' NaLyssa Smith, who was 2nd connected the squad successful scoring with 18 points and 7 rebounds. "I consciousness similar it's conscionable we've got to lucifer the energy, time successful and time out, and I consciousness similar that's what we did today."

After a disappointing Game 1 outing, Hammon implored her players to get "a small feisty" heading into Game 2, saying, "If there's 1 happening that the playoffs are, it's rough. .... You can't tip-toe into a barroom fight." She felt her squad entered Tuesday prepared and acceptable to spell connected that front, which helped them dictate things opening successful the archetypal half, successful which they led by arsenic galore arsenic 18.

Though the Fever chopped the shortage to six successful the 2nd and aboriginal to 8 successful the third, a 17-3 Las Vegas tally astatine the extremity of that framework extended the Aces' pb to 20, efficaciously putting the crippled away.

Coming disconnected a quiescent crippled by her standards, A'ja Wilson was 1 of 5 Aces players to decorativeness successful treble figures, compiling 25 points, 9 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 blocks. Las Vegas is 11-0 successful the playoffs erstwhile she scores astatine slightest 25 points.

Wilson, who precocious won her 4th MVP award, said she was much embarrassed by the team's show successful Game 1, successful which they dropped a 16-point determination connected their location floor, than the team's 53-point nonaccomplishment to the Minnesota Lynx earlier this season.

"I conscionable deliberation we came to work," Wilson said. "We didn't travel to enactment successful Game 1, and that's connected each of us. And I deliberation Game 2, we conscionable decided to travel to work."

White said she felt her squad responded excessively passively to the Aces' accrued intensity. The Fever changeable 41% and had...