Valkyries Must Prepare for Big A’ja Wilson Bounce-Back in Game 2
A’ja Wilson dominated the Golden State Valkyries in the regular season. She averaged 25 points on 51.9% shooting from the field, 12.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2 blocks over three Las Vegas Aces victories.
Game 1 of their semifinals matchup looked quite different. The Valkyries held the Aces to a season-low 60 points. It was just the fourth time this season that the Aces didn’t reach the 70-point mark in a game.
Wilson scored 24 points—one point shy of tying Gabby Williams for the game high—but her points were hard-earned. She shot just 38.1% from the field, which marked her second-lowest field-goal percentage of the season, and eight of her 24 points came from the free-throw line. Wilson also didn’t have her usual impact as a rebounder, playmaker, and shot blocker, recording just four rebounds.
Everything the Aces do relies on Wilson’s greatness. So, if the Valkyries can continue to make life difficult for her, they will give themselves a chance to win the series and go to the finals in just their second year of existence.
However, Wilson tends to bounce back quickly and rarely has two bad shooting performances in a row. The Valkyries must be prepared to face an Aces team that had to endure some harsh words from Becky Hammon and will be led by a hungry A’ja Wilson.
A’ja Wilson usually responds well to bad shooting performances
Wilson rarely has off nights. That’s what makes her so great. She’s a consistent force. Game 1 against the Valkyries marked just the fifth game this season in which she shot below 40% from the field. She responded well after every single one of those games in the regular season.
Wilson had two bad shooting performances for her standards in back-to-back losses to the Los Angeles Sparks and Dallas Wings in May, but she didn’t shoot below 40% in a game until mid-June in an 87-76 loss to the New York Liberty. She scored 32 points on 57.1% shooting in the next game and led the Aces to a 99-84 win against Dallas.
Her next inefficient game was a 109-75 loss to the Fever. She shot 9-of-23 from the field. In the next game, she scored 26 points on almost 80% shooting in a big win against the Toronto Tempo—although every good game against the Tempo and their lack of size and defense needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
Wilson’s most inefficient game was a 98-87 loss to the Minnesota Lynx. She scored just 16 points on 29.4% shooting. She responded with a 26-point double-double on 55.6% shooting in an 86-76 win against the Washington Mystics.
Last but not least, she shot just 38.9% in a loss to the Atlanta Dream in August and responded with a 9-19 performance against the tanking Connecticut Sun.
It was pretty much the same last year. On the rare occasion that Wilson had a bad shooting game, she usually bounced back with an efficient high-scoring performance in the next matchup.
The Valkyries figured out how to bother the Aces with their defense at just the right time. But given how Wilson and the Aces usually respond to bad performances and ugly losses, they will have to be prepared to work even harder in Game 2.
For the Aces, scoring isn’t everything. The Valkyries killed them on the glass, grabbing 17 offensive rebounds. Wilson also needs to be better in that area, but her teammates will have to help her. Cheyenne Parker-Tyus didn’t grab a single rebound in 12 minutes on the court.
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Elaine Blum covers women’s basketball for On SI from Europe. She has been writing about women's hoops since 2023 and holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism and a master’s degree in American Studies with a focus on women’s and gender studies. She started playing basketball when she was 10 years old and won several league and state championships at the youth and senior level.