Aces withstand last-minute push by Storm, escape Seattle with win

Las Vegas players A'ja Wilson (#22), Chelsea Gray (#12) and Jackie Young (#0) celebrate during the team's home win over Los Angeles. Photo Credit: Las Vegas Aces

Plenty of memories of two-time WNBA champion Kelsey Plum flashed on the big board ahead of the tilt between the Las Vegas Aces and Los Angeles Sparks.

When everything settled Las Vegas beat Los Angeles, 96-81, Friday, May 30 from the Michelob Ultra Arena in the team’s second home game of the season. It had been four days since the Aces were walloped on the road in Seattle by 20 points.

“We’re a work in progress,” head coach Becky Hammon said. “We did some good things to build off so considering the game we were coming off, that was a better showing for us. That was a little more like it.”

Las Vegas is now 3-2 on the year as it prepares to head back to the road. In fact, the franchise won’t see another home game until June 11th.

Up next, the Aces will travel back to Seattle for another meeting against the Storm. That game is scheduled for Sunday, June 1 from Climate Pledge Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. That game marks the beginning of Commissioner Cup play.

Former teammates A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum share a laugh prior to tip-off from the Michelob Ultra Arena. Photo Credit: Las Vegas Aces

“Getting a butt-kicking like that, sometimes you need that to wake you up,” forward A’ja Wilson said. “You can’t just show up and think people are going to let you get off.  We sent them home, they have an angry locker room. They want that chip on their shoulder.”

Wilson had her best outing of the season so far with another monster stat line. Out of the gates, she racked up 10 points and three assists in the first quarter. She entered with a season average of four assists per game.

By halftime, Wilson had 17 points, six rebounds and five assists. Her first half included a highlight that saw her go coast-to-coast for a chasedown block.

Wilson closed the night with a season-high 35 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, three steals and three blocks.

“It’s actually really crazy because I didn’t have any energy this morning,” she said. “Not feeling the best but my teammates really helped me [...] This was a bounce back game for us. Everyone saw our showing in Seattle, that wasn’t us.”

Guard Jackie Young added 26 points on 50% shooting from the field. She added three assists and two steals.

“Jack was great tonight,” Hammon said. “She’s somebody who takes her craft very seriously. I thought she could’ve had 30-plus really. She smoked some layups but I think her legs were going from all the work I was asking of her.”

Fellow guard Chelsea Gray chipped in with 15 points to become the final Las Vegas player in double-figures.

Aces guard Chelsea Gray looks to run the offense while defended by former teammate Kelsey Plum. Photo Credit: Las Vegas Aces

In her first meeting against her former team, Plum was greeted by tough defense by her former Las Vegas comrades. On her first shot attempt, she’d be blocked inside the paint by forward Kiah Stokes. Late in regulation, Gray would tally another block on one of her drives to the rim.

Even when Plum found success, it often was quickly offset by a basket by the home team. Late in the second quarter, Plum wiggled to the rim for a two-point finish. Only to have Las Vegas guard Tiffany Mitchell hit a buzzer-beater three-pointer to send the team into halftime.

“We had a week of just hard practice,” Wilson said. “The Seattle game left a bad taste in our mouth so every day we were chipping away, chipping away getting better.”

Plum would be held to 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting while primarily being guarded by Young. More than halfway through the third quarter, Plum would be whistled for a technical foul after arguing with a referee. Earlier in the game, Los Angeles head coach Lynne Roberts was assessed a technical foul.

“We’re both two competitors,” Young said. “We’re just going at it. But at the same time, it’s team basketball so my teammates helped me a lot.”

Guard Jewell Loyd struggled from the field in her second home outing as an Aces player. She was limited to just eight points on 1-for-8 from the floor. The Sparks showed an intention to bump Loyd off her spots by being physical with her attempting to use off-ball screens.

“Be disrusptive, hit her a lot,” Hammon said. “Push her off her routes. She pushed back in my opinion, if [referees are] not going to call it.”

So far this season, Loyd is averaging just 12 points a night and has been held to single-digit scoring in three of the team’s five games. She has a combined 12 points in two home games this season.

At the first media timeout, Loyd removed her facemask that covered an injured nose, which she endured during the team’s season opener in New York. She would not re-apply the mask at any point of the remainder of the game.