Las Vegas Aces guard Jewell Loydis not on the injury report ahead of Game 2 of the team's WNBA playoff semifinal matchup against the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday, Oct. 6, at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
Loyd exited Game 1 with a left leg injury and did not return. She appeared to suffer the injury early in the second half. The Aces guard left the game just over two minutes into the third quarter. Loyd finished with 17 minutes of playing time but did not score. She added two rebounds and an assist.
Loyd's injury sparked concern, given the Aces' recent depth issues. Las Vegas has had multiple injuries in the 2026 postseason. They squeaked past the Indiana Fever in the first round. But, the Aces entered the second round against the Valkyries
with less than 100% health.
The Aces are without NaLyssa Smith, who had a season-ending injury, and have also been managing injuries to Stephanie Talbot and Dana Evans. Talbot is not listed on the Game 2 injury report after missing Game 1 against Golden State and Game 3 of the Fever series with a left leg injury. Evans, however, is listed as "doubtful" for Game 2 versus the Valkyries with a right knee injury.
"We're a little bit depleted right now. We just have to be next woman up," Las Vegas head coach Hammon said. "A lot of their players are very similar, so (Natalie Nakasie) kind of shuffles them in there and out of there. ... (The Golden State Valkyries) kind of have a different kind of firepower that they were able to put together. For us, you know, we just at some point I wish we would get healthy, but you know, it is what it is."
Barring a setback, it appears Loyd will play in Game 2 as the Aces hope to even the series. On Sunday, Oct. 4, the Valkyries beat the Aces 71-60 to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series at the Chase Center. Las Vegas was sorely missing Loyd's production without her on the floor.
"I thought she was great. You know her ability to spread the floor. She's very solid defensively. I think one thing that gets overlooked, and I wanted to give her her kudos in front of the team, but I'll say it here too: the amount of screen assists that she gets never really shows up on a stat sheet," Hammon said about Loyd, who was crucial versus the Fever. "How many screens she set for everybody else to eat? She was a screen-setting machine in that Indiana series, and so you know she does a lot of little things that help us win."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jewell Loyd injury update: What we know about Aces guard's status for WNBA playoffs
