Aces held to season-low points in Game 1 loss to Valkyries

Everywhere the Las Vegas Aces looked during Sunday’s WNBA semifinal opener against the Golden State Valkyries, they saw lavender.

Whenever Las Vegas’ all-everything forward A’ja Wilson touched the ball, a wall of purple-clad defenders surrounded her. Fans packed the seats in matching lavender “We Are Ballhalla” shirts, touting the energetic environment at San Francisco’s Chase Center.

The scoreboard showed the pastel-tinted truth: a 71-60 loss to Golden State in Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals — a season low in points.

“All we talked about for the last 48 hours was rebounding and blocking them out, and we did not do it. Period,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “I could end this whole thing right now. Don’t ask me about the game. It’s rebounding. That was it.

Good news is we played like ass and only lost by 10. So dissect that however you want.

Wilson led the Aces with 24 points. Chelsea Gray, who became the WNBA’s all-time playoff assist leader Sunday, finished with 16. Brianna Turner had a team-best seven rebounds.

Gabby Williams was a force for the Valkyries, scoring 25 and coming down with 11 rebounds. Kiah Stokes, who won three championships with Las Vegas, finished with 14 rebounds and three blocks against her former team.

“It’s very evident that the rebounding was the issue,” Aces guard Chelsea Gray said. “It’s hard to recover when teams get 17 O-boards and 20 second-chance points. The game was in the margins and the hustle plays, and they beat us every single time in that category.

The Aces will have a couple days to regroup before returning to Chase Center for Game 2, Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. PT.

Golden State has been one of the league’s premier defensive teams this season, and it proved that again on Sunday.

The Valkyries fiercely guarded the boards and kept Wilson from getting too comfortable. She faced constant double teams, usually with Stokes shadowing her. The result? Wilson shot just 8 for 21 from the floor and finished with a plus/minus of -12.

The Aces didn’t have an offensive rebound until Brianna Turner secured one roughly two minutes into the second half. In total, Las Vegas was out-rebounded 52 to 25.

The few times an Aces player got an open look at the basket, shots just didn’t fall. After shooting 45.3 percent from the floor in the first-round finale against the Indiana Fever, that figure fell to 33.8 percent Sunday against the Valkyries.

“They wanted it more than us,” Aces forward Kierstan Bell said. “Their hustle was there and they just grabbed every (rebound) so next game, we just have to lock in and rebound and make sure that they don’t get second chance points.

Depth has been a problem the last couple games for Las Vegas — one that continued in Game 1. Stephanie Talbot missed her second consecutive game, recovering from a left knee injury. Aces coach Becky Hammon said before the game that Talbot is day-to-day.

The issue worsened Sunday when Jewell Loyd, who stepped up in Talbot’s absence Thursday against the Fever, suffered a left leg injury early in the second half and did not return.

Once again, Hammon relied on her veteran stars (Wilson, Young, Gray) to log heavy minutes. Young played more than 38 minutes. Wilson and Gray were on the court for over 35 minutes.

“We just got to go with what’s sitting on that bench — next woman up,” Hammon said. “We don’t have a lot of time to sulk about it.

“Nobody feels bad for us. It’s just the next woman up, and you know, we went to the zone a little late, just trying to recoup some legs, I think, with some people playing some high minutes.”