Welcome to Layup Lines, our daily NBA newsletter where we’ll prep you for a tip-off of tonight’s action, from what to watch to bets to make. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every afternoon.
In case you missed it, the Las Vegas Aces advanced to the WNBA Finals on Tuesday night with a Game 4 win over the Seattle Storm. They overcome a halftime deficit and 42(!) points by Breanna Stewart to earn the 3-1 series victory and put a bow on the legendary career of Sue Bird, who had her own awesome moment.
At the center of it all was point gawd Chelsea Gray, continuing what has truly been one of the greatest playoff runs in WNBA history. Reminiscent of her Game 3 overtime heroics, Gray hit clutch bucket after clutch bucket in the fourth quarter, including the 3-pointer that broke a tie with around one minute left and the next basket to push the lead to five with 30 seconds left.
Gray finished the game with 31 points on 13-of-22 shooting, six rebounds and 10 assists, becoming the first player in WNBA history with 30 points and 10 assists in a playoff game. And that’s just the tip of what she’s doing this postseason.
Through six games and two series, Gray is averaging 24.0 points on 62.6% shooting from the field and 59.5% from three. She’s also averaging 7.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals. No one has been that efficient while scoring that many points and averaging that many assists in the short history of the W. According to The Sporting News, her 74.7 effective field goal percentage would be the highest of any player to average 20 points in a postseason.
All this is coming from Vegas’ fourth-leading scorer during the regular season! Now, the Aces await the winner of Game 5 between the Chicago Sky and Connecticut Sun on Thursday. And with a large thanks to Gray, they look very much the part of the favorites they’re supposed to be.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
The WNBA playoffs aren’t the only hoops action happening right now. The group stage of EuroBasket 2022 is nearing a conclusion, and Luka Doncic put on an absolute show Wednesday against France to clinch the top spot in Group B for Slovenia.
His 47 points were the most in a EuroBasket game in 65 years. The 3-pointer that gave him 45 came over the outstretched arms of Rudy Gobert (who got him back later with this massive dunk). But the highlight of the game was an unbelievable one-handed three Doncic hit over Gobert in the first half.
And before you go calling it luck, my colleague Bryan Kalbrosky wrote that it’s not the first time the Mavericks star has pulled this off:
“Doncic, who scored 22 points in the first 14 minutes of the game against France, finished the first half with 27 points on 8-for-12 from the field and 5-for-8 from beyond the arc.
None were more impressive than the one-handed, running fadeaway jumper that he hit as the shot clock expired. It’s almost too much to comprehend.
But one aspect that makes it easier: Doncic has made a similar shot before. During his final game for Real Madrid before declaring for the 2018 NBA Draft, he made a comparably unfathomable field goal.”
Hey man, Doncic was already a problem. But if he’s gonna start making one-handed, running threes, we can all just pack it up.
Shootaround
— Speaking of Slovenia, one of the team’s players was injured on a tip-off after landing on a ref.
— NBA 2K23 ratings are beginning to leak out, and Klay Thompson made it clear he’s NOT happy about his 3-point rating. Kevin Durant simply wants to know why he’s not a 99.
— Bronny James shared some pictures of himself in Ohio State’s uniform, and fans loved it.
— Check out this awesome story of why people wear those tie-dyed Lithuanian basketball shirts at Grateful Dead shows.
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