With 25 points from Jackie Young, 16 from NaLyssa Smith and 15 from Chelsea Gray, the Aces beat the Fever, 84\u201372. The victory put Las Vegas up 2\u20131 in the series and within one win of returning to the WNBA Finals. It also served as a critical example of how this roster can work even without consistent production from its star.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of course, it\u2019s a credit to Wilson that a stat line with 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks stands out as underperformance. (She entered Game 3 averaging 25.8 ppg and 9.6 rpg in the playoffs so far this year.) But if this was a relatively quiet, inefficient night for her, it was still a display of how much her presence can shape a game.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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NaLyssa Smith (right) has played well against her former team, scoring 18 points in Game 2 and 16 in Game 3. \/ Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just shows that she\u2019s human,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI mean, the way she\u2019s been playing this season, it\u2019s hard to tell that she\u2019s human\u2026 And even though her offense wasn\u2019t where she wanted it to be, her defense was still on. She still had three blocks. She\u2019s still that person that we need on the floor.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Smith has increasingly become one of those people they need on the floor, too. When the focus in the paint is on Wilson, that opens up more space for Smith, who has shone in these last two playoff wins after an itinerant regular season. She was traded from the Fever to the Wings in February and then from the Wings to the Aces in June. It meant she never quite found her footing: This was the first season of Smith\u2019s career in which she did not average double figures. But she has shown up in force this week against her former team. Smith had 18 points in the Aces\u2019 win in Game 2 before following up with 16 in Game 3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n