A’ja Wilson had 21 points, Jackie Young scored 20 and Chelsea Gray hit a key jumper down the stretch as the visiting Las Vegas Aces improved to 5-0 for the first time in franchise history by holding off the pesky Atlanta Dream for a 92-87 victory on Friday night.
Kelsey Plum added 15 points and Candace Parker had 13 for Las Vegas, which led 58-39 with 4:29 remaining in the third quarter, but saw the Dream (2-3) get within two on a three-point play from Rhyne Howard (15 points) with 36 seconds remaining in regulation. However, Gray, who scored just eight points, knocked down a 15-footer with 22.1 seconds to go for a 91-87 Aces lead to keep control of the contest.
Cheyenne Parker had 25 points with 11 rebounds, Allisha Gray scored 16 and AD Durr added 13 off the bench for the Dream, which shot 45.9 percent overall and shot 7-for-10 from 3-point range in the second half to threaten the reigning WNBA champions. Atlanta scored 57 points in the second half, including their final 10 from Howard, who has totaled 58 points in the last three contests.
Atlanta hung with Las Vegas for the early portion of the first quarter. The Dream trailed 15-13 following a Naz Hillmon basket, then missed their next nine field-goal attempts. The Aces, meanwhile, scored nine consecutive points — four from Wilson — during that stretch to lead 24-13.
Vegas led by nine after one quarter, then after having that advantage cut to six, used another 9-0 run, which featured four points from Plum, to lead 33-18 with 5:52 remaining in the second period. The Aces, who shot 46.2 percent in the first half, pushed that lead to 16 in the quarter thanks to a 7-2 spurt that featured four points from Young, the team’s leading scorer who ended this contest averaging 22.4 points per game this season.
Alysha Clark went 3-for-4 from 3-point range and finished with 11 points for the Aces, who shot 47.1 percent overall, but just 6-of-21 from distance.
–Field Level Media
