The IX Basketball’s Jackie Powell is live in Las Vegas for the start of the WNBA Finals! In Game 1 on Friday, the No. 2 seed Las Vegas Aces defeated the No. 4 seed Phoenix Mercury 89-86. Afterward, Powell and Kelly Johnson, The IX Basketball’s Aces beat reporter, broke down what they saw and learned inside Michelob ULTRA Arena.
Before the game, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert held her customary press conference. But this year, Powell and Johnson said, there was noticeably more tension after Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier called out Engelbert’s leadership on Tuesday in her exit interview. The WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement is also set to expire on Oct. 31, creating lots of uncertainty about the upcoming offseason.
Powell said Engelbert addressed officiating, which has also been a source of controversy in the playoffs, with more candor than she had in the past:
“[Engelbert] said that the officiating of this league has not evolved with the game, which … has been a common thread that I have heard from executives around the league, saying that this sport has really changed. Players are playing faster, they’re more athletic, and so as a result, the officiating has to change with how the game is changing.
“And so she admitted to there being a problem, just like she admitted to there being an issue with injuries in this league. … She said, ‘We understand how much of a problem this is.'”
The Aces took Game 1 in part because their bench outscored the Mercury’s bench 41-16. Guard Dana Evans had 21 points on 5-for-6 3-point shooting, four steals and three assists. And guard Jewell Loyd added 18 points and four rebounds. Johnson explained what made the difference for Loyd, a six-time All-Star who struggled at times in the regular season as she adjusted to her first season in Las Vegas:
“She wasn’t trying to put the team on her back. And I think at the beginning of the season, when she was in the starting role, she wanted to try to put the team on her back when she was playing with A’ja [Wilson], playing with Jackie [Young], playing with Chelsea [Gray] for long periods of time.
“But since the switch, since she came off the bench … she’s improved. Her shooting has improved. She’s become a little more relaxed in her shooting, and that [was] going to be a key going into this series.”
Make sure to subscribe to The IX Sports on YouTube to get all of Powell’s videos throughout the WNBA Finals!