Mystics, Aces prep for Game 4 with back-and-forth trash talk

Game 4 between the Washington Mystics and Las Vegas Aces is sure to be feisty.

Star center Liz Cambage posted 28 points and six rebounds to lead the Aces to a Game 3 win. After the game, she dished out a bit of trash talk in her post-game interview on the court.

“They got small forwards guarding me,” Cambage said. “If they can’t handle it, get in the weight room or get out of the post.”

The small forward Cambage was referring to was actually center LaToya Sanders, who at a lanky 6-foot-3 is dwarfed by the 6-foot-9 Cambage. The Mystics don’t double-team Cambage, and in Games 1 and 2, they were happy with how Sanders guarded her.

So Mystics guard Natasha Cloud shot back in her Instagram story and came to Sanders’ defense:

then cloud came to the defense of latoya, and shatori hit the classic pic.twitter.com/a9pB27ImvJ

— Matt Ellentuck (@mellentuck) September 23, 2019

As for the “get in the weight room” part, the Mystics covered that too. Cloud shouted “Let’s go, weight room crew!” when the team took the court for practice Monday in Las Vegas, The Washington Post reported. This came after Cloud posted a video of herself and Myisha Hines-Allen doing push-ups with the caption, “We’ll show you weight room.”

first, myisha hynes-allen and natasha cloud did pushups pic.twitter.com/fcXnYcecF0

— Matt Ellentuck (@mellentuck) September 23, 2019

It should also be noted that Aces coach Bill Laimbeer, long known for fielding physical teams, told reporters that Cambage’s comment was “correct.”

But the Mystics lead the series 2-1 and can close it out Tuesday night at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The game tips off at 9 p.m. EST on ESPN2.