Two players to watch in tonight’s all-important game 5

By: Stephen Garner

The all-important game five is set for tonight in the WNBA’s 25th season, as the Mercury and Aces vy for a trip to the Finals.

The Mercury received a blow of potentially drastic measures with the loss of recent and prized trade acquisition, Kia Nurse.

Devastating news for @KayNurse11 She has been GREAT in the playoffs for @PhoenixMercury

KIA NURSE INJURY UPDATE
 
Following an MRI in Phoenix, it was determined Nurse suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee and will miss the remainder of the 2021.

— Holly Rowe (@sportsiren) October 8, 2021

Margin for error already slim, on top of their lacking depth, especially comparison to the Aces, the adversity turns up another notch for them as I mentioned live.

The Kia Nurse injury could be extremely impactful if she has to miss time for the Mercury. Their lacking depth can't afford to be compromised against the sleeping giant that is the Aces

— TEAM NBS Media (@TeamNBSMedia) October 7, 2021

They do, however, have 3 of the five starters on my all WNBA “chip on my shoulder” first team, so counting them out, even against all odds, is something I wouldn’t advise.

That in mind, here are the two players I will be watching most closely tonight for each respective team.

Shey Peddy 

In light of the news regarding Nurse, Peddy stepped up and amassed a playoff career-high.

*Shey

— TEAM NBS Media (@TeamNBSMedia) October 7, 2021

Forgive me for my initial typo as autocorrect got the best of me, but Peddy brought ample energy as she stepped up well in place of Nurse, so the game four loss surely wasn’t on her.

After overcoming the illness that ailed her last round and in game one, she’s refound her rhythm and flow, providing great energy and efforts.

From game two of this series and onwards, she’s averaged 11.3 PPG, 2.7 APG, 5.3 RPG including six of eight from three.

Scoring in double figures versus the Aces in five of their seven matchups this season, they’ll need every bit of her supplemental energy and efforts, on both ends of the floor.

She won’t be the key determinant in whether they win or not, as their big three of Taurasi, Griner, and Diggins-Smith will all need to play better, but her efforts will now jump from much needed to imperative as they look to advance.

Chelsea Gray

The prized off-season acquisition for the Aces was Gray, and her championship experience, being the only player on this high-powered roster with said claim, will need to be ever-present again tonight. 

Her production is beyond important to this team.

My point of emphasis for the Aces has been controlling pace, and for that reason Gray was my player to watch for them in game four, and hasn’t changed for game five.

LV's found themselves playing from behind by deficits of -9, -17, and, most recently, -7 after Q1's. My player to watch in this one is Chelsea Gray. Vegas' prized free agent acquisition, they'll need her championship experience & playmaking in abundance to stave off elimination

— TEAM NBS Media (@TeamNBSMedia) October 7, 2021

Even in game four, they were a -5 after the first quarter.

However, with Gray in attack mode and playing downhill with intent, the feel of that deficit was different, and was erased early in the second as she came in and game them a personal 7-2 run midway through the second as she got hot and never cooled off.

They were able to scratch and claw their way back into each of said games, winning all second quarters, but allowing for Phoenix to establish a rhythm and flow without them rebutting with their own production leaves too much to chance in a winner-takes-all style setting.

The Aces will need Gray to put her fingerprint on this game early as well, no different than she did in games one or four, for their expected level of play to be sustained.

This team paced the association with their blazing 89.3 PPG this season, and saw just four games where they compiled final scoring totals in the 60’s. 

In Gray, who was an average +5.7 on the season, the Aces will need her effectiveness to resurface as it heavily impacts the production of the rest of their roster, especially A’ja Wilson.

With their season on the line, they’re hoping that moment again is now.

*All stats and information used come directly from basketball-reference or WNBA.com/stats unless stated otherwise and are accurate entering play on 10.8.2021*