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Las Vegas stiffens in second half, pick up 1st win of season versus Washington
Looking to avenge a one-point loss on the road, the Las Vegas Aces got some revenge against the Washington Mystics at home.
In the team’s first home game since July 30, Las Vegas edged past Washington, 86-76, Tuesday, Aug. 11 from Michelob Ultra Arena. The outcome came on the heels of a sub .500 five-game road trip for the defending champions.
Head coach Becky Hammon rested her three leading scorers in A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray for the final of that five-game journey citing rest ahead of this home stretch.
“I’m sure they’re probably still a little bit tired,” Hammon said. “But not as tired as they would’ve been if we played them in New York. I definitely had this game in mind when I made the decision to rest them. If you try to play them you put this game in jeopardy and I didn’t want to put this game in jeopardy.”
Now, the Aces are 23-11 this season after entering Tuesday night as the third-best team based on the league’s standings behind the Minnesota Lynx and Golden State Valkyries. It’s a one-game difference separating Las Vegas from the No. 2 spot.
Tuesday marked the beginning of a five-game homestand for the Aces as the team looks to improve on its 10-5 record in front of home crowds. It will be a second straight meeting with the Mystics and that one is set for Thursday, Aug. 13 from the same location with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
“[The schedule is] a lot,” Wilson said. “It’s a lot but at the same time it’s what we’re supposed to do, we’re professional athletes, this is what we do. But the rest and recovery is so key to how we show up.”
Las Vegas found itself up 10 points early in the fourth quarter behind a 10-3 open to the frame before going up by as many as 14 points in the final 10 minutes. Heading into the fourth, the home team had been held scoreless for nearly two and a half minutes while sitting on the wrong side of a 6-0 scoring run.
If the stat sheet were to tell the story, Washington’s +16 advantage in paint points would’ve lent more to the eventual outcome. To make matters worse the visitors closed the first quarter with a 15-2 edge in the rebounding department.
It was a missed layup off a Las Vegas turnover turned into points following an offensive rebound that set Hammon off and forced an early first quarter timeout.
“I called that [timeout] right around six minutes and they had 11 points,” she said. “So you start doing the math and they’re on pace for a big quarter so I wanted to get our attention early on.”
Despite the rocky first half, the Aces and Mystics went into halftime tied at 41 apiece. From there, Wilson took over. She eclipsed her eight-point first half total with nine points in the third quarter on her way to a 26-point, 13-rebound double-double.
“When you’re weathering those storms the last thing you want is the access barking,” Wilson said. “We know what we’re doing and we know what we need to do [...] Becky always says if each individual comes to work saying, ‘Let me do my job,’ puts us in good shape. So we were just like let me lock into what I need to do and know that the others are going to follow.”
Along with forward NaLyssa Smith, the frontcourt tandem accounted for 24 of the team’s 30 rebounds. Four other players combined to haul in the other six rebounds.
“It has to be a mindset,” Hammon said. “It has to be a priority. Our season depends on defense and rebounding. I’m going to continue to demand it, it’s that important.”
Smith recorded her second double-double in three games with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Young reached the 4,000 career points mark in the first quarter behind a 13-point opening frame that included three made three-pointers. She closed her outing with 25 points and a game-high eight assists to go along with zero turnovers.
“I needed a game with no turnovers,” she said. “I like to keep them low or none at all would be even better. It feels good to be able to go out there and make the right reads.”
Gray added 12 points and five assists of her own in the win.
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