Seattle’s three-point barrage proves too much for Las Vegas in season opener

The Las Vegas Aces traveled to the Pacific Northwest to take on the defending champion Seattle Storm in a rematch of last year’s WNBA Finals, but walked away empty-handed once more as the Storm’s three-point shooting proved to be the difference in a 97-83 final.

Seattle’s Breanna Stewart was the catalyst for the Storm and finished with an impressive double-double of 28 points and 13 rebounds.

Last season’s Most Valuable Player A’ja Wilson led the Aces in scoring with 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting.

The returning Liz Cambage added 16 points on 7-of-12 from the field.

As a team, Vegas shot 3-of-12 from distance while Seattle shot 12-of-27.

Aces’ head coach Bill Laimbeer admitted he foresaw the poor offensive display from his team.

“We knew going into this thing that the first eight, 10 games, especially those first six games here, is going to be very difficult for us and we can’t get frustrated,” Laimbeer said.

Vegas got out to a hot start in the first quarter, but quickly watched its lead evaporate at the hands of Stewart and the legendary Sue Bird.

Seattle took a 27-26 lead heading into the second quarter.

Las Vegas’ shooting struggles were noticeable in the second and third quarters as the team was out-scored 45-31 in the two quarters.

The roughly 2,000 fans in attendance along with both teams on the court stopped in the third quarter when Bird bumped knees with an Aces’ player, causing everyone’s stomachs to drop.

Fortunately, a bruised knee was all it would be for Bird, who would enter the game once more in the fourth quarter to put the finishing touches on Seattle’s first win of the new season.

Bird finished with 11 points, five rebounds and eight assists.

Up next, the two heavyweights will square off once more on Tuesday, May 18 in Seattle.