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Elaine Thompson / AP
Las Vegas Aces’ Liz Cambage (8) tries to shoot as Seattle Storm’s Candice Dupree (4) defends in the first half of a WNBA basketball game on Saturday, May 15, 2021, in Everett, Washington.
Sunday, September 19, 2021 | 9:02 p.m.
PHOENIX – Kelsey Plum scored 23 points, Jackie Young scored on an out with 4.3 seconds left and Ji-Su Park blocked a final shot as the Las Vegas Aces beat the Phoenix Mercury 84-83 on Sunday in the ‘a regular season finale.
The Aces welcomed center-back Liz Cambage, who had been absent since August 28 with COVID-19. She had four points and four rebounds in about 9.5 minutes of play.
Plum scored 13 straight points in Las Vegas to bring the Aces down to 83-82 with just under a minute to go. After a miss from Phoenix, Plum missed a header but Destiny Slocum shoved the offensive rebound. Plum restarted and his shot circled, leaving a Young wide open to put the winner.
Brianna Turner drove to the rim for the Mercury as time passed, but her short float was blocked by Park.
The game had no impact on the playoffs. Las Vegas (24-8) is the No.2 seed and has a double pass and nine days off before playing the highest seed remaining in the semifinals. Phoenix (19-13), the number five seed, will be at home against the number eight seed on Thursday.
Las Vegas had balanced the score behind Plum with Riquna Williams scoring 13 points and Chelsea Gray and Dearica Hamby adding 12 apiece, but most of the key players were out down the stretch.
The Mercury also sat MVP candidate Britney Griner in the second half and was without Diana Taurasi, who remains out with an ankle injury. Skylar Diggins-Smith led the way with 17 points and Kia Nurse had 13, the pair combining seven of the 14 3 points, which was a Mercury season high.
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