LAS VEGAS — On the day she was announced as unanimous WNBA MVP, Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson had a first half to forget: just 4 points on 1-of-8 shooting.
But, of course, there was a second half for her to flourish in, and there was also a big lift off the bench from guard Tiffany Hayes. The Aces benefitted from both Sunday to beat the Seattle Storm 78-67 in Game 1 of their best-of-three first-round playoff series.
“The basketball gods have a funny way of showing me that sometimes you’ve just got to get out of the mud,” Wilson said of shaking off the poor start to finish with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks. “I love doing that, because it keeps my mind going. My teammates continue to never let me doubt myself. And I sometimes do … and they always pick me up.
“In the second half, the game kind of settled down for me and I really started to dissect the defense. That was kind of when I got rocking and rolling.”
Earlier Sunday, Wilson spoke of being moved to tears watching a video tribute to her from…
