On the road to the '23 WNBA Finals, the Las Vegas Aces hadn't faced a lot of adversity on the court. But on Sunday, their chances to repeat as Champions, suffered a physical and emotional setback, when starting point guard Chelsea Gray went to the locker room with an apparent foot injury midway through the fourth quarter.
The New York Liberty pulled away from the Aces in an 87-73 home win to close the series to a one deficit, 2-1. Game Four in the best-of-five series is Wednesday night.
The Aces canceled a voluntary shootaround Monday as they await word on whether All-Star point guard Chelsea Gray will be able to go after leaving Game 3 with the foot injury in the fourth quarter. One video showed Gray in a lot of pain as she was helped down the tunnel to the locker room. It looked like she suffered the injury in a play near the basket with league MVP Breanna Stewart defending.
Aces head coach Becky Hammon said her team would play the position by committee if Gray cannot play in Wednesday's game. "I don't think there's any one player that's going to step up and fill her shoes."
As with the Aces first title a season ago, the team did not have a strong bench coming into this year. The Aces played its "core four" a lot of minutes again this season, including Gray, A'ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young. Plum can play the point guard for extended minutes if needed.
The Liberty's Jonquel Jones played well in the Liberty's win as she scored 27 points, leading four New York players in double figures. The Aces have not been able to defend Jones in the post. The game turned around for New York after they held Las Vegas to 4-18 shooting in the third quarter.
Kelsey Plum scored 29 points for the Aces in Game 3. It's not known what her role will be for Las Vegas the rest of this series if Gray misses time. Plum was starting to find her stroke from the perimeter in the series. Hammon noted after the game that everyone would have to step up to fill in for Gray, if her foot injury is serious.