Chelsea Gray turns All-Star snub into motivation, and maybe a WNBA title | Opinion

That All-Star snub is about to sting a whole lot less.

Chelsea Gray continued her scorched-earth tear through the playoffs Tuesday night, bringing the Las Vegas Aces within one game of their first-ever WNBA championship. For the sixth time in eight playoff games, Gray finished with 20-plus points.

Dished out eight assists in the 85-71 win against the Connecticut Sun, too.

Win on Thursday night in Connecticut, and Gray will have the ultimate clap back to all those who didn’t think she was All-Star material.

See, back in July, the Aces made the All-Star Game the WNBA’s equivalent of an off-site retreat. Becky Hammon coached one of the teams. A’ja Wilson was one of the captains. Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young were also named starters. Dearica Hamby was a reserve.

And Gray? She was nowhere to be found.

Now, Gray could have sulked about being passed over. Instead, she’s used it as motivation, fueling one of the finest postseason performances in any league.

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Chelsea Gray drives to the basket against the Connecticut Sun during Game 2 of the WNBA Finals at Michelob Ultra Arena.

She is averaging 28.4 points since the semifinals began, including a monster 31-point, 10-assist and six-rebound performance in Game 4 against the Seattle Storm that clinched Las Vegas’ trip to the Finals.

She got off to a quiet start Tuesday night – as quiet as Gray can be that is. But with Connecticut somewhat managing to contain her, she focused on the rest of her game, setting up her teammates instead. Six of Las Vegas’ seven field goals came off Gray passes, and none was sweeter than her no-look dish to A’ja Wilson beneath the basket that brought the Aces bench to its feet.

But as the game tightened, Gray showed her trademark toughness. She took shot after shot from the Sun and never flinched, at one point knocking down a 3 despite taking a hard shove.

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Best of all, Gray is having a blast doing it. After that 3, she shimmied while sitting on the floor, looking like a kid on a Sit N’ Spin.

The real fun, however, will come with one more win.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Las Vegas Aces win WNBA Finals Game 2 behind Chelsea Gray’s big effort