2023 WNBA Finals Game 3 Observations

Game 3 is complete, and New York has staved on elimination, winning 87-73.  While it’s easy to notice the not close final score, the main story of the game stemmed from Chelsea getting injured, with her future for the series in question.

 

1^st Quarter

• I imagine there were some people wondering if New York would not start Courtney Vandersloot, but that honestly didn’t make any sense to me.  Even if she isn’t taking shots, she still is such a good playmaker
• This has been rough on both sides for the first 4 plays:  Jonquel Jones took a shot that was clearly looking for a foul (though she didn’t make contact), Vegas turned the ball over, Breana Stewart had one of the worst shots I’ve ever seen her take, and Vegas turned the ball over again
• I like New York’s defensive intensity.  They’ve been applying a lot of pressure to make it difficult in the half court, and then coming up to exploit any mistakes in transition
• That was an awesome play by Sabrina Ionescu passing it to Stewart in the paint.  Brilliant cut to the paint and great court vision
• It’s interesting that each of Vegas’s first 3 baskets were all in unbelievably difficult shots, but yet they were still made.  You can’t be that mad if you’re New York in those situations, but it’s easy to feel that way
• New York had a couple situations where they doubled a player to leave Kiah Stokes wide open, which I think is absolutely the right decision.  She is more a of a liability with scoring than the others, so leave her open to see if she makes the right decision.  So far, she hasn’t gotten herself in a position to score before a defender got back
• I get why New York was annoyed about the foul on Vandersloot, but she was still moving her leg on the play
• As we get the first timeout by Vegas, I am thrilled that this game has been close so far (I knocked on wood as I typed that)
• Even after the timeout, New York is providing more pressure on defense.  It’s as if they suddenly realize that they have to win a series
• Jones has been really good again with court position defensively and has also been effective again on offense.  If they somehow win, I expect she would win Finals MVP
• Vegas left Vandersloot wide open, who promptly drilled a 3.  This is what needs to happen to have a change
• Vegas has taken so many difficult shots so far, which is a far cry from how they played in the first couple games, where they often took the right shot
• Vegas had a few made baskets and New York had a few misses, and it is suddenly a close game
• Plum has had a few shots/drives that were such good plays in her 6-0 run.  She drilled an open shot of the pass, and then 2 drives with a clear path to the paint, one resulting in free throws
• Well, the game is close at least!  Admittedly there have been runs by each team so it didn’t feel that close.  That said, I felt like New York was outplaying Vegas almost the entire quarter

 

Quarter 2

• I was shocked when Vegas got an offensive rebound when Jones was in the area.  It seems like she gets every rebound imaginable
• I was surprised that Chelsea Gray made a risky pass attempt then shot a pretty poor midrange shot back to back.  She’s normally so smart with the ball, so I was shocked she did both on the same play
• Even though it resulted in a foul, I don’t love the play of having Jackie Young going iso on Jones.  The fact that Jones was right with her indicates how she could keep up
• Vegas has had a couple plays where it was as simple as driving in and then kicking it out for an open 3.  It’s comical that they keep doing that
• The double team by Vegas to trap was a brilliant decision.  While Ionescu had an opportunity to hit Vandersloot for an open 3, I think she overthought it
• That reverse by Stewart wasn’t easy, yet I love the aggressiveness and finishing ability on the play
• Vegas followed it up with a really nice pass to Alysha Clark in the paint.  I love that kind of ball movement that results in the best possible looks (those right at the rim)
• I never noticed that Ionescu often doesn’t set her feet when doing a catch-and-shoot jumper.  She often is still moving slightly either in the air or on the floor while catching it.  She’s had two situations where she missed that I think she had the time to give it a half second to stop moving, which likely would have made them easier shots
• I just noticed that the teams’ benches were at the defensive side of the court in the first half.  I’m pretty sure that the away team chooses what side of the court they want to sit on, and most choose the side that makes them on the defensive end in the second half for ease with coaching in a close game.  I wonder if Becky Hammon did that to mess with New York a bit.  When Ime Udoka was coaching Boston, he often did that and I always figured that was why
• Jones has been such a great defender on Wilson today, and the Betnijah Laney help on the last play made it impossible to do anything
• Wison has really struggled on Jones today defensively, which is pretty surprising.  At this point, I would switch Stokes onto her, which is something I never would have said entering the playoffs
• Lany has had some pretty rotten luck with shooting this entire series
• Vegas just had a shot clock violation where they seemed rattled the entire possession.  I wonder if the defense is getting into their heads
• New York has missed some pretty easy looks this game, which is only the reason to me that it’s so close.  New York is clearly outplaying Vegas on both ends, but Vegas has had much better luck so far

 

3^rd Quarter

• I was shocked to see Wilson hesitate when at the rim.  She saw Jones there and didn’t know what to do, which really just shows how valuable Jones is
• The foul on Plum might have been the most obvious call on a screen
• The announcers are talking about how Vandersloot gave up a look, but I would focus more on Vegas’s great defense on that play that made that look (which wasn’t as pronounced as they made it sound like) the only good look
• I’m not fully sure what just happened after the timeout from Vegas.  I think Jackie Young flopped a bit, which was a bad one
• I think the refs have been allowing a lot of contact, which has been fine by me, though it is pretty physical
• The fact that Wilson has struggled from the field is a real testament to just how dominant Jones has been.  It blows my mind that she is dominating like she does on both ends still
• I don’t think it gets enough attention to the physical dominance Stewart needed to even get to the rim.  The initial contact that barely impacted her and then Wilson at the rim is a wild combination
• Even though it was a blocking foul on Stewart, I expected it would be a charge just because it seems like nothing is going right for Wilson today
• Even while Stewart has been shooting well from the floor today, I keep thinking she’s doing poorly because she missed a couple open 3’s
• That midrange step back from Wilson is what I’m used to seeing there
• Even though the shot didn’t fall, I liked New York calling a timeout with 8 seconds on the shot clock to get a better look after a chaotic play
• Young just missed a shot that 2 or 3 people were guarding her on.  She’s clearly forcing it while she’s struggling, which is not how you make shots or make winning plays
• Stewart timed the block perfectly on Wilson’s look
• That was not what I expected seeing 3 blocks from Stewart late in the quarter.  Still, she is an awesome defender who has great size
• This quarter’s score is more akin to what I thought the game was like prior.  New York has dominated on both ends (especially in the paint), and Vegas is lucky to be only down by 11

 

Quarter 4

• Yet another situation where the coach cannot hear the interview in the quarter!  It is the dumbest thing to do, especially in the playoffs
• Roger (my dog) just crawled up onto the couch and wanted to snuggle with me.  He has somehow managed to fit his head between the computer, my legs, and my lap while falling asleep.  We’ll see how these notes to for the rest of the game
• Plum really is such a smart cutter off the ball, which is something I don’t think gets enough attention
• It is interesting to see Vegas still drop back when Vandersloot has the ball on a pick despite being more aggressive
• Stewart had the perfect mismatch where Jackie Young was guarding her  I have no idea how that happened
• There have been a bunch of free throws missed, which is strange to see, especially from these teams
• The broadcasters were discussing fatigue with Stewart, and all I can think is that it wasn’t surprising given that they brought her back in likely earlier than they wanted since New York was playing so poorly in the 4^th quarter without her
• Victoria (my fiancé) has the Patriots game on.  I am so disoriented by all the whistles in that came since I keep thinking they’re from the basketball game
• I didn’t mind Gray’s decision to box out New York to make it so her teammate could get the rebound, but she wasn’t aware of a New York player who was running over
• A mismatch with Gray on Stewart might be the only guard guarding Stewart that I wouldn’t be terrified of for Vegas, but even there it’s not shocking to see Stewart make the shot with ease; she’s that skilled and tall
• Well Vegas isn’t going to win this game if Gray is out of the game now.  Hopefully that doesn’t impact her for the rest of the game
• Young has had a rotten game.  I’m not sure what just happened there; did she slip?
• Plum hasn’t even been that efficient today, but she’s the only reason Vegas has any sort of pulse
• I’m seriously not sure why Wilson is still guarding Jones.  She hasn’t been able to communicate at all with any screen set, and they keep doing it
• Now that I noticed the bit of Ionescu not setting her feet off the catch, I can’t stop noticing it every time.  It really gives me a newfound respect for her making these shots
• This is so frustrating that we have another blowout game.  Can’t one of these games be a single digit deficit?
• Why is Plum still I the game?  They just saw what happened with Gray and it’s a blowout
• A 3 missing off the top of the backboard for Vegas is the epitome of how this game went for them
• I’m glad it wasn’t a blowout by Vegas today.  That said, I’d rather it have not been a blowout by New York either.  We’ll get a Game 4, but we have to wait to see how healthy Gray is.  I hope she is healthy enough to play well

 

What did you think of this game?  I’m hoping we end up with a close game at some point in this series!  Let me know in the comments!