‘Everyone’s eating’: Aces breeze past Mercury for 4th win in a row
A’ja Wilson knows what it’s like to carry a team. Wednesday’s 99-79 win against the Phoenix Mercury was just another reminder that she no longer shoulders that burden alone.
Back in 2020, Wilson won her first MVP award and led the Aces to their first WNBA Finals since relocating to Las Vegas. She averaged more than 20 points per game during the team’s playoff run but only had one other teammate, forward Angel McCoughtry, consistently reach double figures in scoring.
“Coming from a point where it was just feeling like a lot was on my shoulders, I feel like this year it’s not,” Wilson said. “Everyone’s eating, and I love that.”
The Aces (11-1) flexed their high-quality depth during an easy win against the Mercury (2-9) at the Footprint Center in Phoenix. Guard Jackie Young led the team with 23 points, guard Kelsey Plum added 21 points, and Wilson finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, her seventh double-double of the season.
It’s the first time three Aces have scored 20 points in the same game this season.
“At the end of the day, that’s what makes us really difficult to guard,” coach Becky Hammon said. “It’s a pick-your-poison kind of scenario.”
The Aces, who shot 47.8 percent on 3-pointers, are on a four-game winning streak with an average margin of victory of 24.25 points during that stretch.
Sug Sutton led the Mercury with 21 points. Phoenix center Brittney Griner and guard Diana Taurasi missed the game with hip and hamstring injuries, respectively.
The Aces return to Michelob Ultra Arena at 6 p.m. Saturday to play the first of consecutive games against the Indiana Fever.
Here are three takeaways from the Aces’ win:
1. Young stays hot
Young started the game in rhythm. She scored 14 points in the first quarter and went 3 of 4 on 3-pointers to guide the Aces to a quick 32-19 lead.
She finished with a career-best five 3s on just seven attempts. Young joins Plum and Kayla McBride as the only players to make five 3s in a game for the Aces since they relocated to Las Vegas.
“The biggest thing for me is just stepping into it with confidence and knocking it down,” she said.
2. Sharing the ball
The Aces had a season-high 29 assists on their 36 made field goals. Point guard Chelsea Gray led the team with eight assists, and Plum and two-time MVP Candace Parker each had six.
Wilson said Hammon has continually stressed the importance of giving up good shots to create great ones.
Hammon said she was pleased at the small things the team did to create shots for others.
“When we play with that kind of purpose, we become really special,” Hammon said.
3. Perimeter defense
The Aces held the Mercury to just 25 percent shooting — 5 of 20 — from 3. It’s the third consecutive game the Aces have kept an opponent at or below 25 percent from 3.
Phoenix entered the game ranked eighth in the WNBA in 3-point shooting, far from the league’s best. But perimeter defense had been a concern for the Aces since returning from their four-game road trip in early June, when opponents shot 46.9 percent from distance.
“We’re stopping teams at a good clip,” Hammon said. “We play fast, so it’s more possessions of being really good, so creating those habits is really good for us.”
Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on Twitter.