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00:00So in front of a record crowd, J.Y. in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena, 20,366 fans in attendance,
00:12the most that have been in attendance for a WNBA game in the last 25 years since 1999.
00:19Kaitlin Clark was there for Indiana, as was Aaliyah Boston, and it was close, relatively
00:24close, through three quarters, and then the Aces showed off their championship might in
00:29the fourth and final, outscoring Indiana by 13, 23-10 in that fourth quarter to pull away
00:36for a 19-point victory, 88-69.
00:41Las Vegas covers as a 13-and-a-half-point favorite.
00:45The Aces, J.Y., are the two-time reigning WNBA champs.
00:49They have won two consecutive WNBA titles for the first time since the Sparks in 01
00:55and 2002.
00:57In this millennium in the WNBA, we have never seen a three-time repeat champion in the WNBA.
01:05Are the Aces looking to part with Chelsea Gray back in the fold?
01:09It's amazing, Ben.
01:10You get the point guard back in the lineup, and everything just kind of settles in.
01:16Asia Wilson was being Asia Wilson.
01:18You're not going to go there, because she's been putting up the sats all year.
01:22But to me, it's been more the play of Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum going back to more their
01:26two- and three-guard positions and allowing Chelsea Gray to point guard the kind of facility.
01:31Here's the thing, folks.
01:34Chelsea Gray doing the games, like last night, where she's not going to blow you away with
01:38the box score, just scoring only four points, you know, only playing 20 minutes.
01:43But getting everybody into their roles, getting everybody into offense, and allowing players
01:47to do what they need to do.
01:48Now, obviously, Jackie Young picked up slack without her scoring, but getting 15-10.
01:53But to me, Kelsey Plum, 34 points, 6-11 from three.
01:57She was bombing from all over the floor.
01:59And then, obviously, you've got to talk about Asia Wilson, but shout-out to Kia Stokes last night.
02:03Kia Stokes is never going to be someone who's going to score the ball.
02:06But if she can give you 12 rebounds and a plus-19 and kind of make things hard for Smith,
02:12make things hard for Boston around the basket, that's also a good sign for the Vegas Aces.
02:19Yeah, we take a look at last night, dominating performance out of Asia Wilson, 13-22 from
02:23the floor, nine rebounds, and also chipped in with five blocked shots and two steals.
02:28Certainly does it all.
02:29You take a look at Kaitlyn Clark yesterday, led the team, but in the wrong direction at
02:32a minus-19.
02:33But you are going to get some of that learning curve.
02:35We talked about it earlier in the show, Coach, you know, you sort of measure up against the
02:38Aces, who we figure are the best team in the WNBA.
02:41The Fevers certainly have a lot to learn.
02:43But if we are looking at some of those markets here, in order to win some player awards,
02:47the MVP market probably out of reach at this point, as long as we don't have an injury
02:51to Asia Wilson, a minus-5.50 price here at the FanDuel Sportsbook Collier at a plus-2,400.
02:56Same thing with Alyssa Thomas at 24-1 also.
03:00But the WNBA Rookie of the Year odds are very interesting here, because Kaitlyn Clark is
03:04having a very good season.
03:05She's a minus-600 favorite.
03:07But Angel Reese is doing something historic right now, also continuing that double-double
03:11streak and playing fantastic basketball at a plus-3.70 price.
03:15Instead of saying, Coach, hey, look, is the MVP going to go to Asia Wilson at this point?
03:20Let's just focus on that Rookie of the Year.
03:21Is there a chance Angel Reese can win Rookie of the Year?
03:26I keep saying no, but if you get 12 points and 19 rebounds, then there's got to be a
03:31chance that something happens, because she's been rebounding the ball at a, let's be honest,
03:36guys, an historic rate.
03:38The problem always with Angel with me was her ability to finish around the basket.
03:43She always seems to get the old boards.
03:44I think she leads the WNBA in offensive rebounds per game.
03:47But to me, it's more about the fact that can she finish around the basket?
03:51She was only shooting at about, I think, 38%, 37% from the floor to start the season.
03:57Well, guys, she's up to 30, she's up to 40%, so she's creeping her way up, which means
04:03she's starting to finish it a little bit better.
04:05If she can continue to do the double-double streak, and Lord knows how long it's going
04:08to keep going, yeah, there's a chance.
04:11I still think at the end of the day, it's going to be Caitlyn Clark, unless it's her
04:14injury.
04:15But you keep seeing injuries every double-double, guys, and any game, Caitlyn Clark struggles
04:19a little bit.
04:20You're seeing it drop 20, 30 cents.
04:23You start to see a little bit more value, less value, I should say, for Angel Reese.
04:28Minus 600, still the number on Caitlyn Clark, but it was plus 400 on Angel Reese, and about
04:33two weeks ago, it was minus 900 in favor of Clark.
04:39Both rookies have been historic.
04:41Angel Reese, 11 consecutive double-doubles, 12 points, 19 boards in the skies, win last
04:47night against the Dream.
04:49That is adding to her WNBA record, not rookie record, WNBA record, surpassing Candice Parker
04:57over the weekend, who had nine straight double-doubles back in the 2015 campaign.
05:02But Caitlyn Clark has been historic as well.
05:05The fastest player in WNBA history to 300 points, 100 dimes, 100 boards, the list goes
05:11on and on for Caitlyn Clark.
05:14It should be a good and competitive race, as it has been the last two weeks between
05:19the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty.
05:22Last week on a Tuesday night, out on Long Island at UBS Arena for a championship on
05:28the line in the Commissioner's Cup championship game, the Lynx got the better of the Liberty,
05:32winning outright as a five-and-a-half-point dog, 94-89.
05:36Similar line last night, J.Y., moved a little bit.
05:39Sabrina Inescu was not out there for shoot-around to start, but did play.
05:43The Liberty got their revenge, winning by nine, 76-67.
05:47What stood out to you in last night's performance?
05:51Second half of Breanna Stewart, even though she did not shoot the ball terribly well,
05:56getting 12 rebounds.
05:57She was absolutely a monster in the second half.
05:59And then we always talk about it, Ben, the play of Double J, Jonquell Jones, where she's
06:04able to step up and shoot the three and do what she can and then get all boards and finish.
06:09When she's at their best, the Liberty are at their best.
06:14The Double J three-point prop last week against the Lynx in the Commissioner's Cup did not
06:19come through for Traboy.
06:21Last night, though, three triples.
06:23That's what I was expecting out of Jonquell Jones.
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