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

LAS VEGAS -- Aces coach Becky Hammon said the physicality of her team's semifinal series against the Indiana Fever has been "out of control" following Las Vegas' 90-68 Game 2 victory to even the best-of-five series at 1-1.

"I mean, you can bump and grab a wide receiver in the NFL for those first five yards, but you can do it in the W for the whole half-court," Hammon said. "You put two hands on somebody like that, it should be an automatic foul. The freedom of movement, there's no freedom. And I'm not saying that we're not fouling, too, not saying that. I'm saying it's out of control.

"Most of my assistants come from the NBA, and they're like, 'This would not fly in the NBA. ... There'd be fights.' We just have very well-mannered women that can get to the next play."

There were 41 fouls called in Game 2, including 16 in the third quarter, and 27 called in Game 1. The Aces took 21 free throws on Tuesday compared with 15 for the Fever.

Hammon previously called out what she believed was an overly physical first-round series between the Fever and the Atlanta Dream, deeming it a "football match" and saying "some of the hits that I saw in the Atlanta-Indiana game, if I did that to you in the street, I would be arrested."

The officiating was a point of contention for Fever coach Stephanie White after Game 2, as well, albeit for different reasons.

"It's hard for us to find flow when there's a foul called every 10 seconds," White said. "I mean, it just really is, and when they're at the free throw line, we can't get up and down the floor, and that's a challenge."

Players on both sides spoke to the physical nature of playoffs in general.

"It feels like a physical game every game," said Indiana's Lexie Hull, who finished with 15 points including five 3-pointers. "It feels like it's been a physical season. I feel like I've been on the ground a little bit more this series so far. We just keep getting back up."

"Yeah, it's playoffs. Very physical games," said Las Vegas' NaLyssa Smith, who was second on the team in scoring with 18 points and seven rebounds. "I feel like it's just we've got to match the energy, day in and day out, and I feel like that's what we did today."

After a disappointing Game 1 outing, Hammon implored her players to get "a little feisty" heading into Game 2, saying, "If there's one thing that the playoffs are, it's rough. .... You can't tip-toe into a bar fight." She felt her team entered Tuesday prepared and ready to go on that front, which helped them dictate things beginning in the first half, in which they led by as many as 18.

Though the Fever cut the deficit to six in the second and later to eight in the third, a 17-3 Las Vegas run at the end of that frame extended the Aces' lead to 20, effectively putting the game away.

Coming off a quiet game by her standards, A'ja Wilson was one of five Aces players to finish in double figures, compiling 25 points, nine rebounds, five steals and two blocks. Las Vegas is 11-0 in the playoffs when she scores at least 25 points.

Wilson, who recently won her fourth MVP award, said she was more embarrassed by the team's performance in Game 1, in which they dropped a 16-point decision on their home floor, than the team's 53-point loss to the Minnesota Lynx earlier this season.

"I just think we came to work," Wilson said. "We didn't come to work in Game 1, and that's on all of us. And I think Game 2, we just decided to come to work."

White said she felt her team responded too passively to the Aces' increased intensity. The Fever shot 41% and had 22 turnovers, and leading scorer Kelsey Mitchell was limited to 13 points. Las Vegas, on the other hand, managed 54% shooting.

"[It was] a lot of things that are a little bit uncharacteristic of us, but you got to give them credit," White said. "They came out and they put us on our heels."

The series will next shift to Indianapolis for Games 3 and 4.