WNBA Finals Game 2 takeaways: Aces' Plum gets back in her shooting groove

The Las Vegas Aces are one game away from taking home the WNBA title, but now must go on the road to face the Connecticut Sun in a crucial Game 3.

But their Game 2 performance, bigger than any win over the Sun they had all season, proved why Las Vegas isn't afraid of a road game.

Here are four takeaways from the second game of the best-of-five WNBA Finals, which Las Vegas leads 2-0.

Kelsey Plum got her groove back

For a player who was shooting 42 per cent from beyond the arc in the regular season, Kelsey Plum had a less than ideal playoff run since Game 1 of the semifinals against the Seattle Storm.

From that game, she had been just 6-of-33 from the perimeter, shooting just 26.1 per cent, coming off a season where she led the league in three-pointers made and was a crucial offensive weapon for the Aces in an 85-71 win.

Even in Game 1, she failed to score until the final quarter and registered just six points in 32 minutes.

But in Game 2, the Plum that the Aces know and love arrived, and she finished with 20 points and seven assists. In Game 1 she made an impact on the floor even when she couldn't hit the rim, but the Aces have a much easier time winning when the shooting specialist is on target.

She still only hit one of her six three-point attempts, but the confidence in scoring 20 points after having a shooting slump is exactly what Plum needed to help the Aces -- and the 14-point win gave Vegas momentum heading into Game 3.

There's no answer for A'ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray

The MVP-defensive player of the year-all-star proved exactly why she was the top player this season as A'ja Wilson became the first player in WNBA history to have five games with 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds in a single post-season.

Wilson is the engine that makes the Aces run on both sides of the ball. She had 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting as well as grabbing 10 rebounds -- all defensive -- to give her another double-double.

But Wilson can't do it all alone, and Chelsea Gray has continued her ascendance in the post-season as she had a 21-point, eight assist night, marking her fourth straight game scoring 20 or more points. She has scored 17 or more points in every game this postseason.

Gray also improved after Game 1 where she had just three assists and tallied six turnovers -- cutting her turnovers to four while racking up five more dishes to her teammates. She also can put her defender on skates, even testing the Sun's best to create space to get her jumpers off.

Las Vegas is lucky to have a deep rotation where Dearica Hamby and Riquna Williams can come off the bench and force turnovers, grab boards, score and make an impact in their 16-plus minutes, but when Becky Hammon's starters are playing 32-plus minutes, they need to be playing exactly how Gray and Wilson have -- unstoppable.

Becky Hammon proves doubters wrong in Year 1

Many believed that when Hammon took the Aces' top job, she was taking a "downgrade" from her position assistant coaching position with the San Antonio Spurs -- but Hammon wanted to prove the naysayers wrong.

Now one game away from winning a title in her first year as head coach -- a feat that even NBA champion Bill Laimbeer couldn't do with the Aces -- Hammon is ready to fight for one more game to take the title back to Nevada.

"It's about putting these ladies in a position to win a championship. That's been my focus. That's why I took the job," said Hammon. "I felt they had the talent to do it and I felt that I could build the relationships and build the culture in the right way for us to put ourselves in a position to be able to win a championship."

Even former boss Gregg Popovich stopped by to congratulate Hammon and her team as they go for the sweep and first franchise title. Though the talent that Hammon puts on the floor every night was there when she arrived in Vegas, she's the one who has orchestrated them to perfection.

"Like I said before, we haven't won anything yet. All we did is take care of home court, what we are supposed to do," said Hammon. "I'm used to people not picking me; I don't know if you're aware. I just did me."

Connecticut has been here before

The Sun are no stranger to a do-or-die battle in the WNBA playoffs, and found themselves with their backs against the wall in the last two rounds against Dallas and Chicago, and came out victorious.

Going almost seven minutes without a field goal, exactly 6:42 minutes of action, the Sun were left helpless as the Aces took control of the game and pushed the tempo compared to a Game 1 where Connecticut kept the defensive pressure high and score low.

Jonquel Jones had a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds, being one of the Sun's leaders as always, and Courtney Williams had 18 points and five assists. Brionna Jones also added a massive 12-point, seven-rebound and three-assist performance, but with the rest of the team struggling, Connecticut couldn't keep up.

One of their biggest forces in the semi-finals, DeWanna Bonner, was 1-of-9 from the field Tuesday and is 2-of-18 from the field in the Finals for five points. Without Bonner's offensive impact, the Sun don't have many other explosive options. They need her shot to fall in order to win.

"We are taking it one game at a time. That's all we can do," Jones said. "We are going to go back home, like you said. We are going to have our fans behind us, who have been with us all season, and we are going to use that to propel us to a win and that's all we can do."