Aces earn season-high 5th straight win while staying perfect in Commissioner’s Cup play

Las Vegas is up to a season-long win streak as the team continues to dominate Commissioner’s Cup games.

Run the streak to five consecutive games as the Aces took care of business against the Portland Fire, 105-89, Thursday, June 11. That marked the team’s eighth road game of the year and the squad’s first since June in more than a week.

Away from home this year, Las Vegas is 7-1.

“I thought it took us a half to adjust,” head coach Becky Hammon said. “We had nine turnovers at halftime, only five in the second which is a lot more manageable. But it also just kind of speaks to just pure offense.”

With the win, the team stays perfect in cup games in four showings while sending the Fire into a fourth straight cup loss in the franchise’s first season.

Overall, the Aces are 9-3 on the season with a huge matchup on the horizon. Looking to improve to 5-0 in cup games, the team will host the Minnesota Lynx Saturday, June 13 from Michelob Ultra Arena.

Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.

Guard Chelsea Gray made WNBA history with a shooting performance that won’t be forgotten easily. It could be seen early that she had the touch perhaps most evident by her two made three-pointers in the first quarter.

“It was great,” she said. “I had a couple of games there where I was like, ‘Okay.’ Like I’m making them in practice. Just trusting the work, I hit a couple early and it just felt good.”

Gray hit back-to-back threes in the fourth quarter before heading into the halftime break with 18 points and six made threes. As a team, the Aces shot 14-of-28 from three-point territory in the win.

While heading into the fourth quarter with 20 points, Gray would reach history in due time. She tied a career-high with her seventh made three during that frame.

Moreover, she added two more longballs for a 9-for-13 mark from behind the arc. Those nine made threes ties a league record for the most made threes in a WNBA game by a single player.

“It’s nice to have [guard Jackie Young] where you can get Chelsea off the ball because she’s a very good shooter,” Hammon said. “A lot of times the ball is in her hands [...] So at times it’s nice to get the ball out of her hands and let her get some of the easier ones.”

Forward A’ja Wilson scored 12 points in the first half but did her best work in the third quarter. She opened the frame by scoring the first seven points for Las Vegas on a stretch of nine straight points dating back to the second quarter.

That helped spur a 14-4 start for the Aces coming out of halftime.

“I like Portland’s team,” Hammon said. “They’re feisty but my team is pretty feisty too.”

Wilson scored 16 points in the third quarter on her way to concluding the contest with 32 points on 50% shooting to go along with five rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal.

Even with Wilson’s stellar third quarter, Portland closed the frame on an 18-8 run. Despite the loss, the Fire opened the game converting on 13 of their 20 field goal attempts in the first quarter.

By the final buzzer, the team posted a shooting percentage of 53%.

“I thought they rammed it down our gut in the first half – 40 points in the paint,” Hammon said. “I think they had 24 points in the paint in the first quarter. I don’t think I’ve ever seen our defense that bad – and they were layups.”

That was thwarted by a pair of double-doubles from forward NaLyssa Smith and the aforementioned Young. Smith recorded 12 points and 10 rebounds while Young flirted with a triple-double while tallying 18 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.

“It’s great, especially right now,” Wilson said. “Like Chelsea always says, ‘You want to play your best basketball in September - October but for us to start clicking right now somewhat is a good thing.”