08/09/26 02:27:00
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08/09 14:26 CDT Aces rest A'ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young after
brutal back-to-back travel
Aces rest A'ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young after brutal back-to-back
travel
By DOUG FEINBERG
AP Basketball Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --- Without A'ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young, the Las
Vegas Aces were no match for the New York Liberty, losing 111-71 on Sunday.
Coach Becky Hammon rested her top three players because the Aces were playing
the second half of a difficult back-to-back after losing in Minnesota on
Saturday.
"My players' health is the most important," Hammon said after the game. "You
got to be healthy and fresh as much as possible, obviously, after going through
a season. So, the health and safety of players come first. Where we end up (in
the standings), we end up."
Hammon felt resting her top players could help the team on the back end of the
schedule because all three will be taking part in the FIBA World Cup next
month, so they won't be getting any rest when the WNBA goes on break next month
for a few weeks.
"I'm not going to put them in any kind of jeopardy to get hurt when we've been
expending a lot of energy on travel and a lot of miles back and forth
crisscrossing the country," Hammon said.
The necessity to rest the trio happened because of a brutal schedule. After the
loss to Minnesota, the team didn't arrive at its hotel in New York until nearly
10 p.m. after making the almost 1,200-mile trek from Minneapolis.
"I mean, everybody has a brutal schedule at some point. I don't even think they
do this in the NBA, though, where it's less than 24 hours," Hammon said. "With
the time change, it ends up being that."
The NBA, like the WNBA, actually won't make a team travel two times zones or
have less than 22 hours between games if it's playing consecutive days,
according to a person familiar with scheduling. The person spoke to The
Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to
speak publicly about it.
Sunday's game against the Liberty was on ABC and had a 12:30 p.m. EDT tipoff
because the network was showing the Little League Softball World Series
championship game afterward.
The early tipoff meant an early wake up and arriving at the arena less than 12
hours after the Aces got to their hotel.
Sunday's contest capped a five-game road trip for the Aces that started last
Saturday in Chicago. The Aces lost that game and then went on to rout Atlanta.
A stop in Indiana on Thursday ended with an overtime victory by Las Vegas
thanks to buzzer-beating 3-pointers by Gray at the end of regulation and
overtime.
Now the Aces head home for five straight games in Las Vegas.
___
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
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