On Friday evening, the Las Vegas Aces handed the Connecticut Solar simply their second—and largest—lack of the season, a 85-74 defeat. The Aces dominated the Solar for many of the evening, blowing the sport open within the second quarter to take a 17-point on the half.
A’ja Wilson, the present frontrunner for MVP, dominated on each ends of the ground and completed with 26 factors, going 9-for-17 from the sphere and 8-for-8 from the road together with 16 rebounds, two blocks and two steals. “You prep your self for these moments in order that they’re not unfamiliar to you,” Wilson stated postgame. “You like to be in these moments that shine the brightest. I lean on my teammates loads so I might be the very best teammate for them.”
Coming into the sport, the two-time defending champions had been 7-6 on the 12 months, however they’re now 2-0 with All-Star level guard Chelsea Grey within the combine. Grey solely scored 4 factors on 1-for-6 capturing, however she was a game-high plus-19 in 17 minutes off the bench and undeniably made an influence.
For the Solar, Brionna Jones led the best way with 18 factors on 8-for-12 capturing, whereas additionally grabbing seven rebounds. She started the sport with a robust 11-point first quarter, however scored simply seven factors the remainder of the best way. DiJonai Carrington added 19 factors, however shot simply 5-for-15 from the sphere. Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner mixed for his or her lowest scoring output of the season, simply 12 factors. Thomas completed with six factors on 2-for-6 capturing with seven assists, whereas Bonner had six factors on 2-for-10 capturing.
Connecticut seemed considerably higher with Jones on the court docket than off of it; the Solar performed the Aces even within the minutes she performed, whereas the remainder of Connecticut’s starters had considerably adverse plus-minuses (Thomas completed a minus-17, Bonner a minus-18, Tyasha Harris a minus-19 and DiJonai Carrington a minus-10). Jones inches nearer to pre-injury kind as she continues to get well from the Achilles tear she suffered final 12 months.
The Solar made a push within the third to chop the result in single digits, however they had been by no means capable of get nearer than seven factors because the Aces repeatedly responded with well timed buckets. Kelsey Plum put up 18 factors on 6-for-14 capturing, whereas Alysha Clark added 11 factors in quarter-hour off the bench.
The Solar have misplaced simply two video games this season and keep the very best document within the league (13-2). However, they fall to 0-2 in opposition to Finals groups from final season: the Liberty, who they misplaced to by seven factors on June 8, and now the Aces. For many of the season, they held the league’s greatest level differential, however now have the third-highest (plus-8.8) after the Liberty (plus-9.0) and the Lynx (plus-10.6).
