NEW YORK (news agencies) — Las Vegas star A’ja Wilson will have an MRI on the right wrist that she injured in an 87-78 loss to the New York Liberty on Tuesday night, Aces coach Becky Hammon said.
The coach didn’t know the severity of the injury and said Wilson would get the imaging Wednesday morning.
“Big picture, our season is bigger than one game. We want to make sure she’s good to go,” Hammon said.
The three-time MVP got hurt with 4:13 left in the second quarter when she drove down the lane and landed awkwardly after getting fouled. She was on the floor for a few minutes as her teammates rushed over to her side. Wilson got up and walked to the Las Vegas bench to an ovation from the Barclays Center crowd.
Wilson made the first of two free throws — her only point of the half. She departed with 2:22 left in the half and headed to the locker room. She missed all three of her shot attempts but had four rebounds and two assists.
“Obviously she changes the whole dynamic on both ends of the floor for us,” Hammon said. “You can’t replace her for sure — not (with) one person, two or even three or four.”
Wilson made three games earlier this season while in concussion protocol. The Aces, who play at Washington on Thursday, went 2-1 without their star.
Hammon said Wilson stayed in the game for a few minutes after getting hurt because she wanted to come out in the flow of play instead of having her team commit a foul and put the Liberty closer to the free-throw bonus.
“She didn’t want us to play defense without having to hit anybody for 4 1/2 minutes. That’s was what she was thinking,” Hammon said.
Wilson returned to the bench with her wrist wrapped in the second half. She came in averaging 21.9 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
“We know she’s the heart and soul of this team. She has our back every night,” said Jackie Young, who led Las Vegas with 19 points.
Earlier in the night, Wilson was selected by Caitlin Clark to play on her team at the All-Star Game on July 19 in Indianapolis.
___
news agencies WNBA:
