‘She impacted the game’: Gray stuffs stat sheet in Aces’ Game 2 win

A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young stole the headlines. That’s par for the course when a duo combines for 60 points in a WNBA Finals game.

Chelsea Gray provided a reminder that you shouldn’t forget about her, either.

The Aces’ point guard was everywhere Sunday. She didn’t have the kind of scoring dominance as her fellow Olympians, but she didn’t need to. Gray did a little bit of everything in the 91-78 win over the Phoenix Mercury in Game 2 at Michelob Ultra Arena.

Gray had a double-double of 10 points and 10 assists, grabbed eight rebounds, had three steals and blocked three shots to help the Aces take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

She became just the second player in WNBA playoff history to record such a stat line. Her former teammate Candace Parker was the first, also against the Mercury, on Sept. 17, 2017.

“She does so many little things,” coach Becky Hammon said. “I thought she impacted the game as usual.”

Game 3 is at PHX Arena on Wednesday.

Gray, as she’s done time and again, was the calm in the storm for the Aces, allowing her star teammates to take over.

The Mercury jumped out to a 9-2 lead two days after falling behind 10-2 in Game 1 on Friday night.

Gray ensured that didn’t last long. She was responsible for 13 of the Aces’ next 18 points before sitting down with 3:17 left in the first quarter, having scored seven points and dishing three assists.

The steady hand from the 2022 Finals MVP allowed the Aces to right the ship when it started to list.

“We had to get stops, especially in transition when we thrive on that,” Gray said. “I gotta watch film to see what we can do better, but it was a good effort.”

Her passing was just as breathtaking. Full-court connections with Wilson on multiple occasions. Cross-court passes that had no business getting to the other side.

It wasn’t just the points and the assists. Gray had an impact everywhere, especially in the first half. Phoenix was held to 10 points in the second quarter, and Gray played a role in that with her active hands.

Two of her steals came in the second quarter, and the Aces held Phoenix to 5-of-18 shooting t0 take a 46-37 halftime lead.

Gray did her part. Young and Wilson finished it off.

Young flushed her 3-for-13 performance in Game 1 with a WNBA Finals record 21 points in the third quarter to finish with a game-high 32.

Wilson, the four-time league MVP, recorded her second consecutive double-double and fourth of the playoffs with 28 points and 14 rebounds in 32 minutes of action.

The Aces’ lead ballooned to 22 points with 8:44 remaining. The Big Three, once again, did what helped push them to back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023.

“I feel like we all just have equity with each other off the court, to where when we’re on the court, we can just get to our spots,” Wilson said of her, Gray and Young. “We get to the understanding of what makes people great.”

It’s familiar territory for the Aces. This is the third time in four years they’re taking a 2-0 finals lead into Game 3 on the road.

The championship mettle still lives within the Big Three. Wilson and Young are going to do their thing, as they’ve done many times this postseason.

Gray still leads the charge in her own way. And she’s a reason why the Aces are two wins away from another title.

“You just treat it like another game,” Gray said. “Not try to look to far ahead, and keep playing.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.