🏎 Layup Lines: Aces in the driver's seat

Happy Monday and welcome back to Layup Lines, your quick recap of what’s going on in the WNBA. May your day be full of tiny wins and good vibes.

• Programming note: The W is off tomorrow and so are we. See you back here Wednesday!

This 420 word newsletter should take less than 2 minutes to read.

🥊 Aces steamroll Mercury

• The final 91-78 score might make Game 2 of the Finals seem somewhat competitive, but the Aces were in complete control of this game from the second quarter on. Las Vegas’ Big 3 of A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray scored 70 points — or for my math heads out there, just eight points less than every Mercury player scored.

  • You just can’t really beat the Aces when those three are firing to this degree. Young herself scored 21 points in just the third quarter alone, setting a Finals record for the most points scored in a quarter.

• The Mercury also went 5-28 on 3-pointers and again got nothing from their bench. Praise the Aces while also recognizing Phoenix isn’t beating many teams without any outside shooting or a bench presence.

• Naturally, I returned the good vibes back to the sportsbook by taking the Mercury and the under to go 0-2 (and now 11-14 in the playoffs). Fear me, fade me.

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👀 Looking ahead to Wednesday

• Game 3 in Phoenix is on Wednesday at 8pm on ESPN.

• There’s an old basketball adage that a series doesn’t start until one of the teams wins a game on the road.

  • Since this is literally the first best-of-seven series in WNBA history, we’ll see if that holds for the 2025 Finals or if the Aces are just a class above the Mercury.

  • The books seem to think that the series is going to stay chalk, as Phoenix is favored by 4 points today. That line will probably move toward Las Vegas by tip, but it’s at least a potential sign of a more competitive Game 3.

🗞 Good reads

• How Las Vegas overpowered Phoenix to go up 2-0 (The Athletic 🔒)

• Napheesa Collier, Cathy Engelbert and a WNBA teetering on the brink (ESPN)

• Caitlin Clark 'is a pawn in other people's games,' says Fever coach Stephanie White (IndyStar)

✋ Body control block to go

Layup Lines is written 100% by a human being. I very much appreciate you reading and will see you back here Wednesday.

— Everett Cook, Founder & Editor