Sky out for revenge vs. Aces in second round of playoffs

LAS VEGAS — There’s some bad blood between the Sky and Aces.

In their most recent matchup in August, the Aces, led by All-Star center Liz Cambage, got under the Sky’s skin.

The calls weren’t falling in the Sky’s favor as Cambage seemingly got away with playing a physical game. Meanwhile, Sky center Stefanie Dolson was limited to a season-low 10:37 of playing time because of foul trouble.

After the loss, coach James Wade called out the referees, saying it was “one of the most ridiculous games” he ever witnessed. He also said Cambage was “protected by the refs.” The drama ultimately boiled over to Twitter.

Cambage brushed off Wade’s comments after practice Saturday in advance of the teams’ second-round, single-elimination playoff game Sunday at Thomas & Mack Center.

“The coach said I was allowed to do whatever I wanted, but I had five fouls and a technical?” said Cambage, who averaged 23.3 points and 10 rebounds against the Sky this season. “It just sounds like you’re bitter that you couldn’t handle me.”

The fifth-seeded Sky are looking to take care of some unfinished business against the fourth-seeded Aces.

“They’re one of our least favorite teams to play against as far as we can’t stand the fact they get some of the calls they get,” forward Cheyenne Parker said. “It makes us just hungry to kick their ass.”

The emphasis at the Sky’s last two practices was playing clean defense and stopping the Aces’ two All-Star bigs — Cambage and A’ja Wilson.

The Sky allowed the Mercury to take 26 free throws in the Sky’s first-round win Wednesday. They can’t afford to do the same against the Aces, who draw the second-most fouls in the WNBA, averaging 19.2 per game.

Dolson, who led the league in fouls this season, said she learned her lesson from the last meeting.

“You’ve got to pick and choose your battles,” said Dolson, who has averaged 10.7 points in nine games since being held scoreless against the Aces. “I’m also being more conscious of how I play defense, making sure even if I bump them, I show my hands immediately so that they don’t get wrapped up in her because she is a bit — and you can write this — she is a bit dramatic and flops.”

Wade hopes the game doesn’t come down to officiating.

“I’m not worried about [what happened], we’ve moved on,” Wade said. “But you hope that tomorrow is a fair-called game and we don’t get a report saying, ‘You were right about this call, you were right about this call.’ ’’

Cambage is only one of several problems the Sky will have to tackle. Wilson is another menace, averaging 16.5 points in the regular season. The Aces also have Sixth Woman of the Year Dearica Hamby, who stepped up when Wilson was sidelined with a foot injury.

Though momentum is in the Sky’s favor, the Aces, who have lost four of their last six games, had a first-round bye and a week of practice. They’re taking a “new season” mentality against the Sky.

“Anything that happened before the playoffs doesn’t matter,” Cambage said. “New focus. We had time to regroup and get this win.”