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More than half the most recent game between Las Vegas and Indiana contested inside of four points or less but the Aces were bailed out by vintage late-game performance by all-star Chelsea Gray on her bobblehead night.
Las Vegas downed Indiana, 88-80, Monday, June 26 from the Michelob Ultra Arena in the second half of a back-to-back. Prior to this finish, the Aces had beaten teams by an average of 18.7 points per game.
“Ugly game in a lot of areas,” head coach Becky Hammon said. “They’re not all going to be pretty. I kind of like those games where it tests your toughness, tests your togetherness when things aren’t going right.”
With the win, Las Vegas extends its winning streak to six straight games as the team improves its overall record to 13-1 this season.
The Aces will continue its five-game homestand when they host the New York Liberty Thursday, June 29 from the Michelob Ultra Arena with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m.
“We just know it’s never going to be easy in this league,” forward A’ja Wilson said. “Every single night we have to play our best basketball every single possession. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, it doesn’t matter what time we’re playing, we have to play and compete hard for 40 minutes.”
Indiana used a 14-3 run to regain the lead late in the fourth quarter after trailing by double-digits earlier in the frame. However, it was an 11-2 run engineered by Gray to put Las Vegas back on top for good.
“Just [looking to get] the best shot possible,” she said. “In the first half, I was terrible, I kind of set the tone for the game with the turnover that I had on the opening possession.”
Gray hit back-to-back jumpers to reach 21 points on the night before finding teammate Kelsey Plum on the perimeter for three points. After a timeout, Gray iced the game with two clutch free throws.
“I probably don’t take as many chances,” Gray said of the difference between running the offense in the final two minutes of regulation. “But I’ll say that right now but then in the next game, I’ll throw a behind-the-back pass so I don’t really know.”
At game’s end, Gray finished with a game-high 25 points on 8-of-13 from the field while going perfect from the free throw line on eight attempts. Her effort helped the Aces outscore the Fever by nine in the second half.
In the first quarter, Indiana held Las Vegas without a field goal for the first three minutes and 59 seconds of regulation. The game was so tightly-contested that the point margin between the two teams stayed at four points or less for more than 23 minutes of the 40-minute game.
The game featured 19 lead changes and 12 ties.
“It’s tough to beat a team three times,” Hammon said. “We beat the other night and my locker room is happy and theirs is pissed. So it’s hard to come in and meet that kind of emotion and mental focus when there’s naturally some human let up on the other side.”
It was a technical foul called on Indiana head coach Christie Sides just over halfway through the third quarter arguing a foul call. That allowed Las Vegas to stretch its two-point lead to five, its largest of the game at that time.
Wilson posted another double-double, recording 24 points and 10 rebounds. Her 10 rebounds were second on the Aces behind 12 from frontcourt mate Candace Parker.
Parker scored a single point that didn’t come until the second quarter, same story for Plum, as both were held scoreless in the opening frame.
Plum finished with 17 points on 4-of-16 from the field but lit Indiana up for eight vital points in the fourth and final quarter.
“Her competitiveness is never in question,” Hammon said. “And neither is her shooting. When she shoots it, I always think its going in. I don’t care if she’s 0-for-[whatever] coming into the fourth quarter, it doesn’t matter, I always think it’s going in when it leaves her hands.”
Guard Jackie Young added 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting including nine points in the first quarter. In fact, Young and Wilson combined to score all 20 Las Vegas points in the first quarter.