The Las Vegas Aces were held to a season-low in points Sunday because they couldn’t rebound. The culprit behind that was a familiar face.
For as many nights as Kiah Stokes was a liability on the floor offensively when she played for the Aces, she always provided timely stops defensively and grabbed crucial rebounds.
Stokes, the longtime Aces center, didn’t score a point in 27 minutes during Sunday’s 71-60 win for the Golden State Valkyries in Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals, but she didn’t need to. She was the difference maker with 14 rebounds — seven on the offensive glass — and blocked four shots.
When Stokes and guard Gabby Williams were asked what was the secret to slowing the defending WNBA champions down, Williams pointed to her left.
“The secret’s right here,” Williams said, praising Stokes.
Stokes was a pillar of the Aces’ championship core for five seasons, playing a pivotal role during their three championships in four seasons. Her role diminished last season with a career-low 12.9 minutes thanks to the acquisition and emergence of NaLyssa Smith.
The 33-year-old signed with the Valkyries and averaged 22.3 minutes in the regular season. It’s the most she has played since 2020 with the New York Liberty.
“I know what I can bring to this team,” Stokes said.
Stokes didn’t like how she played against the Aces in the regular season. She had 14 rebounds combined in the three meetings that the Valkyries lost. Two of those losses were by double digits.
Stokes made up for that in Game 1. She was part of why the Aces were held to 34 percent shooting and why the Valkyries outrebounded the Aces 52-25.
Golden State had 17 offensive rebounds.
“This is now or never. There’s not a lot of time to think too much about it,” Stokes said. “I just had to do it. This was a team win.”
Stokes was the primary defender on A’ja Wilson while on the floor. She’s one of the few people in the world that know how to defend the four-time MVP.
Wilson shot 8 of 21 and finished with 24 points. After moving to second place all-time in playoff double-doubles in the clinching Game 3 against Indiana, Wilson had only four rebounds.
Stokes, Williams and Kayla Thornton combined for 36 rebounds.
“A’ja is obviously a great player, a four-time MVP, potentially five,” Stokes said. “Sometimes you just got to make an intentional effort. You’ve got to slow her down as much as possible. She’s a great player.”
Golden State has leaned on its defense, averaging a league-best 75.1 points per game. Stokes has been the anchor having started 43 games in the regular season.
Having the familiarity of coach Natalie Nakase has helped. Nakase was an assistant for Aces coach Becky Hammon for three seasons.
“MVP of the game, if I had to say,” Nakase said of Stokes. “Her matching up with A’ja is a really tough task and I thought she did an amazing job.”
The consensus among the Aces is they lost the game in the rebounding department. Hammon said it was a point of emphasis the moment the Aces eliminated the Fever on Thursday.
Hammon called it more of a “discipline” issue than fatigue or anything of the sort.
There was one bright side in Hammon’s mind. Or maybe not.
“We played like ass and only lost by 10,” she said. “Dissect that however you want.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
Up next
Who: Aces at Valkyries
What: WNBA semifinals, Game 2 (GSV leads 1-0)
When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Chase Center, San Francisco
TV: NBC Sports Network
Streaming: Peacock
Line: Valkyries -1.5; total 157½
