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It wasn't easy for Las Vegas, which recovered
after an 18-point lead vanished.
Mercury guard Diana Taurasi, beginning her 20th season in the
league, poured in 23 points, hitting seven 3-pointers.
Kahleah Copper had 19 points, and Rebecca Allen and Natasha
Cloud both finished with 14 points, but it wasn't enough in the
debut for Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts.
Down 12 with three minutes left in the game, the Mercury scored
nine straight points to trim their deficit to 83-80. But Kiah
Stokes drained two free throws with 1:03 to play to push the
lead to five. Those were her only points of the game, and Young
extended the margin with four free throws in the last 14
seconds.
Prior to tip-off, there was a celebration for the latest Las
Vegas championship as players were given rings and a banner was
raised in ULTRA Arena.
Tuesday night marked a matchup between the teams with the best
and worst records in 2023, but there wasn't much difference
between the teams in the first half.
The Aces led 42-41 at halftime. Phoenix led for more than two
minutes in the third quarter.
Plum's basket near the midway mark of the fourth quarter gave
Las Vegas a double-digit lead at 77-66. That was the first field
goal for Las Vegas in the fourth quarter, when it racked up its
first seven points on free throws.
Phoenix scored only four points in nearly the first six minutes
of the final quarter.
The Mercury leaned on their shooting from beyond the arc
throughout the game. Through three quarters, they were 12-of-28
from deep and finished with 15 3-pointers.
The Aces were 6-for-29 on 3s for the game, but they were
25-for-29 on free throws.
Las Vegas led 29-11 with less than a minute to play in the first
quarter. The Mercury answered in the second quarter, outscoring
the Aces 27-13.
Mercury center Brittney Griner didn't play. The team announced
that she suffered a fractured toe on her left foot and a
timeframe for her to be in action is uncertain.
--Field Level Media [© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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