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Shey Peddy broke a tie with two free throws within the remaining seconds because the visiting Phoenix Mercury held off the Las Vegas Aces 87-84 on Friday evening in entrance of a report crowd to advance to the WNBA Finals.
Peddy was fouled taking pictures a three-pointer with 4.8 seconds left and made two of three free throws to offer the fifth-seeded Mercury an 86-84 lead. Brittney Griner, who put up a game-high 28 factors, then blocked A’ja Wilson’s layup try and made one in every of two free throws for a three-point lead.
Kelsey Plum’s desperation three-pointer from the backcourt failed as time expired, ending the second-seeded Aces’ season in entrance of 9,680 followers – essentially the most ever for a Las Vegas residence recreation.
Diana Taurasi added 24 factors, 14 of which got here within the fourth quarter because the 39-year-old took over proceedings for Phoenix.
Peddy scored 15 and Skylar Diggins-Smith added 14 for the Mercury, who will host the sixth-seeded Chicago Sky in Sport 1 of the Finals reside on Sky Sports activities Enviornment’s purple button from 8pm on Sunday.
Plum and Chelsea Grey scored 22 factors every, Wilson had 21 factors and 10 rebounds and Liz Cambage had 10 factors and 11 rebounds to guide Las Vegas.
Taurasi made back-to-back three-pointers to guide a 12-point run at the beginning of the fourth quarter that gave the Mercury a 70-66 lead. Plum sank a layup for the Aces’ first factors of the quarter after a four-minute drought, and he or she added a three-point play to swing it again to 75-73 of their favour.
In a back-and-forth encounter, Phoenix tied the rating twice earlier than Las Vegas as soon as once more took an 81-77 lead with 2:27 remaining.
The Phoenix Mercury have fun after defeating the Las Vegas Aces 87-84 in Sport 5 of the 2021 WNBA Playoffs semi-finals to win the collection 3-2
Griner made two baskets and Taurasi added a triple to offer Phoenix an 84-81 benefit with simply over a minute to go earlier than Grey levelled issues with a three-pointer of her personal. Peddy and Griner then sealed a rematch of the 2014 Finals in opposition to the Chicago Sky from the free throw line.
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