Washington Mystics defeat Las Vegas Aces in earthquake-delayed game
Tuesday 6 August 2019 07:31, UK
Elena Delle Donne and the Washington Mystics made their short trip to Las Vegas pay off on Monday night, completing the second half of a game suspended by an earthquake with a 99-70 win over the Aces.
The original game on July 5 was suspended with Washington leading 51-36 after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Southern California just before half time, with the effects felt as far away as Las Vegas and Mexico. After talking it over, WNBA officials suspended the game out of an abundance of caution. NBA Summer League games in Las Vegas also were postponed that night.
The Mystics played in Phoenix on Sunday and got blown out by the Mercury 103-82. Washington flew to Las Vegas on Sunday night and treated Monday night's game like any other game on their schedule. The Aces had their morning shootaround, and both teams got their normal warm-up 90 minutes before the game.
Delle Donne scored 21 points for the Mystics (15-7), who maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half. Kelsey Plum had 17 for the Aces (15-8).
"We understood what this game meant given their position and our position in the fight to finish top two in the league," said Mystics guard Kristi Toliver, who finished with 14 points and eight assists. "It was weird, you can't deny that. We wanted to put together a 20-minute game. We knew we had to come out and compete at a high level very early, which is in a good rhythm of what we do. We didn't want to play tentative, didn't want to play not to lose. We wanted to play to win the game."
It was a win like none other in WNBA history for the Mystics. The game started again with a second rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," even though it was technically half time when things were getting started. Starting line-ups got introduced again, too, though the Aces were different since Liz Cambage was out for rest and A'ja Wilson was missing from the Vegas line-up with an ankle injury.
The fans didn't care, though, as those who received replacement tickets and the rest who purchased $10 general admission tickets were stretched across four sections behind the team benches. The rest of the arena - including every section facing the benches - were completely empty, though Raiders owner Mark Davis was in his customary spot for Aces games, sitting midcourt.
The Mystics had the services of forward Emma Meesseman, who was playing for Belgium in preparation for the EuroBasket Tournament when the original game tipped off on July 5. And two of the three referees from the original game, Eric Brewton and Fatou Cissoko-Stephens, were back for the second half. The third from the original contest, Tiara Cruise, was replaced Monday by Cheryl Flores.
And all this was happening in the T-Mobile Arena, not the Aces' usual home at the Mandalay Bay Events Center - which was unavailable for the resumption on Monday.
Max Bizzaro, executive director or production at T-Mobile Arena, said the timing couldn't have been any more perfect since there hadn't been an event in the building in more than a week and his team was set to prepare for USA Basketball's Blue-White scrimmage on Friday.
"When we found out we were going to do the Aces here we were all excited," Bizzaro said. "The good thing is with Mandalay Bay being our sister property we know a lot of people in each venue. We're not made to transfer basketball courts back and forth but we rented some trucks, got the teams together, got it over here [and] had the court down a couple of days ago."
But Bizarro said it was more than laying the Aces home floor in the middle of the Vegas Golden Knights' home arena, as the bleachers needed to be arranged a certain way, press risers had to be installed and the changes to the digital output needed to installed into the arena's computer system.
"Not everything matches the same as Mandalay Bay so we had to make changes on that," Bizzaro said. "Everybody coming together, that's the only way you can do it. We all came together to make it happen."
