“I understand what the league is trying to do. But it’s just hard because if you’re a professional, you play your entire season to be out … in a game? I thought in the pros you really wanted to find out who the best was, and by doing that you do it in a series.”
Candace Parker was just taking to WNBA aficionado and one of the best sportswriters around Shea Serrano for 57 minutes for The Ringer this weekend about the drawbacks of the first round, one game elimination format in the WNBA Playoffs.
Those odds were in our CP3’s favour however this Sunday as the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Seattle Storm 92-69 in the 2019 WNBA Playoffs after a birthday candles like blowout first half.
Seattle were without their key players and the most dynamic duo in the league with current greatest Breanna Stewart and G.O.A.T. legend Sue Bird. But they still had Defensive Player Of The Year Natasha Hughes who lead the Storm’s front with 20 points.
But Coach Derek Fisher had too much Spark for the Storm with the Lakers sister team who did it for the L.A. and have proven for years now to be the perennial Los Angeles team when it comes to success as the 2016 champs sucker punch, knocked out the reigning ones on what looks like their own way to another one like Khaled.
They have their own dynamic duo in Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike. Or another one in Ogwumike and her sister Chiney twinning. Call it a big-three. Or even a Fantastic Four when sharp shooter Chelsea Gray is gunning for the purple and gold. Who needs the clutch of an NBA Playoff great like D-Fish coming off the bench when he’s leading a star unit that was firing on all cylinders in a blaze of gold glory last night.
Gray had a game high 21 to go along with 8 assists as she shared the table with Parker’s 11, 10 and 6 and 17 from Nneka. 10 days after beating the Storm by 34, they beat them again by 24 to seal their place in the Western Conference semifinals.
Meanwhile it was a much closer call in the dessert. As Liz Cambadge fresh off iconic SLAM and ESPN Body Issue magazine covers grabbed the headlines as she showed up to Sin City walking the tunnel catwalk in all black like orange wasn’t nothing for this Chicago Sky funeral march. The ace Aces also wore a matching black face mask like she was walking the streets of Tokyo, Japan. Before lighting up Chicago’s sky like Shibuya neon with 23 points, 17 rebounds and 6 blocks.
But the front of the page went to her teammate as after Kelsey Plum’s clutch 3rd quarter shot beat the buzzer and the one leg challenge in front of the Eurostep of Houston’s James Harden sitting courtside, LV took off like a rocket to win the game in the waning seconds. Dearica Hamby intercepted and stole Chicago’s Courtney Vandersloot’s pass with nine seconds to go and then just past the half court line with 7.5 seconds to go she threw up a Hail Mary and the Basketball God’s answered with a swish like there was no need for a LeBron James meme with his arms out and face in perplexed pain as the eternity left on the Basketball game clock didn’t matter.
93-93.
Game Aces.
Vegas bet it all on their new WNBA franchise (put it this way if Las Vegas get their own NBA franchise like UNLV, it will be because of the Aces and not the 2007 All Star Game) like the Aces did Hamby as her hands didn’t leave the top of her head in disbelief from the moment the buzzer rang to her postgame interview courtside. It could have gone a different way for with Frank assurace like Sinatra at the Sands it ended her way. If you didn’t know the name Dearica the Sixth Woman Of The Year is in bright lights in this Nevada town now.
And if that’s what the quarters are like imagine what the semis will show against the number one Washington Mystics and WNBA great Elena Delle Donne. Expect something legendary, because after beating Chicago for this Las Vegas team that is all aces, the skies the limit.
