A’ja Wilson Headlines All-Around Historic Outing for Aces
The reigning MVP led the way in a 113–89 win over the Mystics
The Las Vegas Aces hosted the Washington Mystics on Friday night, and because it was a day ending in Y, the WNBA’s most dominant team had another mesmerizing performance.
With a 113–89 victory, the Aces improved to 26–3 on the season, matching their franchise-best win total from last season’s championship group that went 26–10.
Leading the way was none other than reigning league MVP A’ja Wilson, whose 40 points set a new career high and tied a team record set by Kelsey Plum just last month, on July 9 at the Minnesota Lynx.
Wilson became the first player in WNBA history to record a 40-point game without making a three-pointer and, with 12 rebounds, passed Margo Dydek for the second-most boards in franchise history.
It was a dazzling display that continues to fuel an intense MVP race between Wilson and the New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart. But Wilson wasn’t the only member of the Aces to put on a show.
Both Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray finished with 19 points and 10 assists, becoming only the second teammate duo in WNBA history to each have 10 assists in a game.
Coincidentally, that other pairing also included Gray — who, along with Odyssey Sims, accomplished the feat for the Los Angeles Sparks against the Chicago Sky on Aug. 18, 2017.
And of course, Plum and Gray each also achieved scoring milestones, reaching 2,500 and 3,500 career points, respectively.
With 113 points in the game, the Aces tied their own mark (from July at Minnesota) for the most points in a game this season and now have more wins by 24+ points (seven) than the rest of the WNBA combined (six).
Combined with their 104–84 win over the Dallas Wings on Tuesday, Las Vegas now has a franchise record of 217 points in their last two games, the most by any WNBA team in a two-game span since the Wings in 2016.
In each outing, the Aces made at least 14 three-pointers while shooting 50% from beyond the arc. No other team has ever accomplished this in back-to-back games.
I’d call that a pretty good response to the squad’s 38-point drubbing at the hands of the Liberty on Aug. 6.
The recent two victories give the Aces eight 100-point games on the year (another team record that trails just the 2009 and 2010 Mercury all-time) and 16 wins by at least 15 points this season, tied with the 2019 title-winning Mystics for the most in WNBA history.
They push Las Vegas’ point differential on the season to +409, which is tied with another title-winning team, the 2000 Houston Comets, for best all-time. Of course, the Aces still have 11 games remaining in the regular season to push that figure to heights that will surely feel untouchable.
Looking ahead, the Aces play their 30th game of the season against the Atlanta Dream on Sunday night with a chance to reach 27–3 overall. That would match the final record of the 1998 Comets, who own the best winning percentage in WNBA history (.900).
The Aces would become the fourth team to start 27–3, also joining the 2000 and 2001 Sparks, who each finished at 28–4 (.875).
It’s also a chance for the Aces to pick up a 20th straight home win, which would move them into sole possession of the second-longest streak all-time, trailing only the 2000–02 Sparks.
Friday’s win improved Las Vegas to 14–0 at home this season by an average of 19.5 PPG. The only teams to finish a regular season undefeated at home are the 2001 Sparks (16–0) and 2010 Seattle Storm (17–0).
There is no shortage of feats the Aces could accomplish between now and the end of the season. Just look at what they did on a single Friday night.
All stats in this article were found on Stathead unless otherwise linked.
