Plum, boy raise aces over Mercury 84-83

PHOENIX (AP) – Kelsey Plum scored 23 points, Jackie Young scored a putback with 4.3 seconds to go and Ji-Su Park blocked one last shot when the Las Vegas Aces hit the Phoenix Mercury 84-83 in a regular season finale on Sunday defeated.

The Aces welcomed back center Liz Cambage, who had been down with COVID-19 since Aug. 28. She had four points and four rebounds in about 9 1/2 minutes of play.

Plum scored 13 straight Las Vegas points to draw the aces within 83-82 in less than a minute. After a miss from Phoenix, Plum missed a shot for the lead, but Destiny Slocum pushed the offensive rebound forward. Plum drove again and her shot was rimmed, leaving a wide open young to set the winner.

Brianna Turner drove to the edge for the Mercury when time ran out, but her short floater was blocked by Park.

The game had no impact on the playoffs. Las Vegas (24-8) is # 2 seeded and has a double-bye and nine days off before playing the highest remaining seed in the semifinals. Phoenix (19-13), the five seeded, will meet the eight seeded on Thursday.

Las Vegas had an even score behind Plum, with Riquna Williams scoring 13 points and Chelsea Gray and Dearica Hamby adding 12 points each, but most of the key players were left behind.

The Mercury also put MVP candidate Britney Griner in the second half and had to do without Diana Taurasi, who is sidelined with an ankle injury. Skylar Diggins-Smith led with 17 points and Kia Nurse with 13, the pair combining seven of 14 3-pointers, a Mercury season high.

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