Kendra AndrewsOct 5, 2025, 05:32 PM ET
LAS VEGAS -- Jackie Young told Aces coach Becky Hammon that she would be ready to perform in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals.
It didn't matter that it was a noon tipoff. Or that she didn't have her legs underneath her in the first game of the series. She was ready to contribute.
Finishing with a game-high 32 points, Young became the first Aces player to have a 30-point game in the Finals in franchise history. The 22-point increase from Game 1 to 2 is tied for the fourth-highest game-to-game scoring increase within a single Finals series, according to ESPN Insights.
"Jackie was just going," Hammon said. "When she gets a couple to go down, it's really difficult for her to be defended well ... She is a bad, bad girl."
Less than 48 hours before Sunday's early tip-off, Hammon said Young was a bit fatigued in Game 1 of the Finals -- a hangover from carrying their team to the series-deciding victory in the semifinals just a few days before. Young told Hammon she needed to be subbed out of the game on Friday. On Saturday, she sat out of practice and underwent hours of treatment.
And on Sunday, she was ready.
Young scored 21 of her 32 points in the third quarter -- the most points in a quarter in WNBA Finals history. It's also the most points in any playoff quarter since 2006, when the WNBA switched from halves to quarters.
Young said her third-quarter performance came down to her aggression and making the right reads.
"I am so proud of Jackie," A'ja Wilson said. "I'm a pain in the ass sometimes when she's not doing her job because I know that it is there. I know that Jackie Young is there, so I try to bring it out of her."
Wilson continued: "To be able to witness [her] on the court, [she] did some nasty stuff today; that's crazy. To live it, it's been tons of fun."
Wilson has been in Young's ear all season. Her bottom line to Young is: "Remember who you are and don't let any basket shake you ... don't let anyone rob it."
Just playing alongside Wilson has been a motivation for Young.
"It's a blessing getting to play with the best player in the world every single day," Young said. "She is the standard, and on this team, everyone wants to be the standard. So you don't want to be the one who is [slacking]."
Wilson finished with 28 points -- a career-high mark for the four-time MVP in the Finals -- and 14 rebounds. She scored 20 of her points in the first half. Wilson and Young combined for 60 points, the second-most points by a duo in the Finals in league history.
If Wilson scored two more points, they would have become the first set of teammates to both finish with 30.
"I dropped the ball on that. Sorry, Jack," Wilson said. "I owe you a basket."
Meanwhile, Chelsea Gray became the fourth player in WNBA Finals history with multiple games of 10 points and 10 assists (her second).
"How do I describe [Wilson, Young, and Gray]? They are studs," Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said. "That is why the expectation is so high -- because of those three ... that's what makes this such a tough team."
The Aces dominated Game 2 for three quarters. Phoenix coach Nate Tibbets pinpoints the second quarter as the moment momentum began to shift in favor of Las Vegas.
After finishing the first quarter trailing by three, and then falling back to down seven two minutes into the second, Las Vegas went on a 14-2 run to respond and build a five-point lead. There was no looking back from there.
Las Vegas credits its defense as what unlocked the game for them. After allowing Phoenix to score 27 in the first quarter, they limited them to 24 over the next two periods.
"Once we are able to flip that switch defensively, we become a different team," Hammon said. "Why do we use the first quarter as warmups? I don't know."
As the Aces tightened up their defense, Tibbetts said his Mercury held and overdribbled the ball, and just stood and watched the game go by rather than being assertive.
"I've been proud of our offense the last four or five games -- how we've moved it, we found matchups that we liked. We did not do a good job of that today," Tibbetts said. "It's probably some of us and some of Vegas."
Tibbetts said moving forward, he needs to do a better job at finding the mismatches in the post or in the pick-and-roll, while regaining the "commitment, tenacity and toughness" on the defensive end that they pride themselves on.
As the series shifts to Phoenix for Game 3, the Aces are prepared for the Mercury to bring a new level of focus and intensity as they try to avoid going down 3-0.
Throughout these playoffs, Hammon has challenged her team to handle success the best they can. Now, that test will be as high as ever.
"That's the goal: do not let up," Hammon said. "You don't want to have a satisfied locker room because we are not there yet."
