– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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WASHINGTON — It’s as simple as this for the Las Vegas Aces: when Chelsea Gray was not in the lineup, a three-peat of a WNBA championship was a pipe dream. With her, they may very well be the best team in the league once again. Today’s game for Las Vegas was a microcosm of their season, as a slow start was quickly followed by uncompromising dominance.
A’ja Wilson scored 28 points and 17 rebounds while Kelsey Plum added 22 points as the Aces defeated the Washington Mystics 89-77 inside Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C. on Sunday afternoon. Tiffany Hayes scored eight of her 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Aces have won 10 of their last 11 games.
That stretch of success has coincided with the return of point guard Chelsea Gray from injury that ruled her out of the first 12 games, in which Las Vegas went just 6-6. Gray only scored two points today, but had six assists compared to just one turnover in 20 minutes of action.
Ariel Atkins scored a game and career-high 36 points for the Mystics, who outscored the Aces 31-20 in the first quarter built a 13-point lead early in the second. Atkins scored 21 points in the first half.
After the first quarter, the Mystics managed just 46 points combined, with the Aces holding Washington to fewer than 20 points in each of the final three frames. Wilson, who scored only scored 11 points the last time these two teams played in Washington on June 29, snapping her WNBA-record streak of consecutive 20-point games at 20, took over in the third quarter with 14 points and eight rebounds in the frame while playing all 10 minutes.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Clifford Ray Williams After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 24 pictures in total.
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