LAS VEGAS — At shootaround on Wednesday morning, Chelsea Gray and Alysha Clark had a specific goal in mind: Too $hort was performing at halftime of Game 2, and the pair was trying to convince Becky Hammon to let them back onto the court in time to watch the show.
The way Hammon saw it, that was entirely in the players’ control. Her halftime message would be shorter if there were fewer clips, a.k.a. fewer mistakes, to go through during the break. So if the Aces wanted halftime entertainment, they’d have to be great during the first two quarters.
As if Las Vegas needed any more incentive to open up a can of whoop-ass on the New York Liberty.
The Aces blitzed the Liberty to the tune of 38 points in the first quarter, a WNBA Finals record for an opening period, en route to a 104-76 victory and 2-0 series lead. They scored on seven of their first eight possessions and 15 of 20 in the first 10 minutes. Kiah Stokes and A’ja Wilson both splashed 3-pointers during that stretch, only the third time this season the frontcourt duo has cashed in on triples in the same game. New York blinked and was trailing by 12 within three minutes. A second-quarter run got the Liberty back into contact, but for the majority of the contest, these teams were operating on dramatically different…
