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The Las Vegas Aces needed a strong response against the Dallas Wings after Sunday’s loss and they got just that on Tuesday night.
Las Vegas defeated Dallas, 104-84, shaking off their relatively shocking 38-point loss in the previous outing to improve to 25-3 on the season.
While rebounding from losses isn’t something the Aces have had to do much this season, it is something that they’ve done well. Las Vegas has an average margin of victory of 19 points after their three losses this season, not letting any slumps linger for too long.
The recipe for victory was the same as it had been all season for Las Vegas, as their quartet of stars led the way Tuesday night.
Guard Chelsea Gray kicked things off with an 11-point opening quarter, one that saw the Aces give up just 13 points defensively. They allowed that same amount in the second quarter, but by scoring 30 points themselves were able to build a sizable 28-point lead by halftime.
For a team that managed to score just 17 points in the second half on Sunday, that type of start was exactly what the doctor ordered for Las Vegas.
The pent-up frustration carried well into the second half as well.
The Aces poured on another 32 points in the third quarter and led by as many as 41 points before the Wings eventually clawed back some of the deficit.
That outburst was on the back of forward A’ja Wilson, who exploded for 19 points in the quarter to finish with a game-high 28 points.
Guard Kelsey Plum added 20 points of her own while Gray, fellow guard Jackie Young and reserve forward Alysha Clark each notched double-digit scoring marks.
The layered scoring that we’re accustomed to seeing from the Aces made a triumphant return against Dallas, hopefully rendering Sunday’s loss to the New York Liberty as an anomaly.
The Aces’ defensive effort inspired confidence, too, as the team handled the Wings’ size much better than in the previous matchup in which Dallas handed Las Vegas their second loss of the season.
The Aces had more points in the paint than the Wings and out-rebounded them 45-30. It was a far cry from the previous loss where Dallas held a 36-25 rebound advantage and more than doubled the amount of points in the paint that Las Vegas managed.
While the talk around the league has certainly been the Aces’ poor showing against the Liberty, their performance Tuesday night feels more significant to the team’s growth and overall trajectory.
Against Dallas, a team that bullied Las Vegas last month with their size and physicality but the Aces flipped a switch and controlled the game right from the jump. Sure, Las Vegas shooting 50% from beyond the arc on Tuesday is an outlier too, but their defensive effort was a re-emergence of previous shutdown efforts this season.
Dallas scored 84 points, but 32 of those came in the fourth quarter after the Aces had already ballooned their lead to that 41-point mark.
The defense did what we know it is capable of, and combined with an offensive outburst it led to a comfortable win.
Next up for the Aces is a five-game homestand that begins Friday, Aug. 11 against the Washington Mystics.
The highlight though is back-to-back games against the Liberty next week. The first will be the Commissioners Cup Championship while the second will simply be a regular season game.
Currently, the Aces lead the Liberty by three games for the top spot in the WNBA.