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Execution on both ends late in regulation leads Las Vegas to undefeated road trip
- Terrel Emerson
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Las Vegas endured perhaps its toughest test to end a recent road trip and escape unscathed.
With a 10:30 a.m. tip time culminating a four-game road trip, the Aces squeaked past the Atlanta Dream, 85-84, Sunday, May 17. With those four wins, the team has now posted wins of 27, 29, seven and now a single point.
“Our team works super hard,” guard Chelsea Gray said. “We stay late, we get extra shots up, we get our reps. So a lot of the times, the shots that we’re going to get we’ve practiced it 1,000 times. So you trust in that work.”
After taking a big loss in the season opener, Las Vegas now has four straight wins on the year for a 4-1 start. It will return home Saturday, May 23 from the Michelob Ultra Arena as it hosts Los Angeles.
Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. and will go down as the Aces’ Banner Night to commemorate last year’s title run.
“We kind of stalled out,” head coach Becky Hammon said. “We’re at the end of a four-game road swing. We got in at 4:30 a.m. the other day. I think we just ran out of gas a little bit to be honest.”
Gray nailed the eventual game-winner to preserve the win for Las Vegas. During the outing, she posted a team-high 21 points on 62% shooting which included knocking down her first three shots of the game.
“It’s a silencer,” she said. “And we’ve won all of our championships away [from home] so it’s a good open-and-shut.”
Gray followed up that clutch shot with the game-sealing steal on all-star Allisha Gray, who recorded a game-high 25 points in the loss.
“Honestly, I think they were trying to get to a flare [screen],” Gray said. “I heard them saying, ‘No, no, that’s not the side.’ Maybe there was confusion at the end of the play.”
Those final two plays for the Aces were needed after a 19-2 run wiped away a lead that was once 19 points for the defending champions. With less than 37 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Atlanta grabbed the lead for the first time since the second quarter on guard Jordin Canada’s seventh steal.
“It felt like a playoff environment,” Gray said. “When you get those types of road wins early in the season, it speaks to the togetherness and it speaks to our chemistry and our grit down the stretch [...] We’ve got to work on not giving up leads like that.”
Gray also knocked down half of Las Vegas’ made three-pointers in the win, going 5-of-8 from deep. On the other hand, the club held the Dream to 4-of-21 from long range.
Despite losing the rebounding battle, 45-38, the Aces were aided by five or more rebounds from six different players including Gray’s five rebounds and six assists.
“That’s who [Gray] is,” Hammon said. “The bigger the moment, the bigger she gets. I have the ultimate trust in the group down the stretch.”
Forward A’ja Wilson scored 14 points in just 16 first half minutes. In the third quarter, she passed Hammon for 19th on the league’s all-time scoring list.
Ultimately, the league’s only four-time MVP ended the night with 20 points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Reserve guard Chennedy Carter was the third 20-point scorer for Hammon’s squad, posting 20 points in 21 minutes on 7-for-13 from the field. She has now scored 18 or more points in her last four outings.
“I’m glad she’s on our team,” Gray said. “She gets in the paint with ease so that’s really nice to see. We let her work and get in there and make the right read.”
Forward NaLyssa Smith chipped in with 13 points while battling five fouls down the stretch.
Teammate Jackie Young went field goal-less for the ninth time in her career and the first since 2021. She went 0-for-12 in the win but did come up clutch by diving on a loose ball late in regulation and winning the tip to set up the game-winning shot by Gray.
“We can win when it’s ugly,” Hammon said. “That’s the lesson here: We can win when it’s hard.”
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