The Las Vegas Aces title protection is formally the go-to.
The Aces defeated the Atlanta Dream 93-72 at Michelob Extremely Enviornment, which formally earned them a spot within the playoffs. They’re the primary staff within the league to clinch a postseason berth, and can now be a playoff staff for all however one of many six seasons since their transfer to Nevada.
The Aces received their first championship final season, and it seems to be like they have not missed a step this summer season. Las Vegas now holds a 24-2 document, marking Tuesday’s eighth consecutive win by a minimum of 10 factors. The Aces are undefeated at dwelling both, and are on tempo with the 1998 Houston Comets for essentially the most wins in league historical past with 26 video games performed.
Tuesday evening was no totally different. After closing out the primary quarter, the Aces jumped out 15-4 to open the second half and by no means regarded again. They held a double-digit lead after three quarters, regardless of solely placing up 15 factors in that interval, then erupted with an 18-6 result in begin the fourth quarter. From there, the Aces merely held on to win by 21 factors with no drawback.
Jackie Younger led the Aces with 24 factors within the win. I shot 10 from 21 and went 4 from 9 from behind the arc. Aja Wilson added 20 factors and 11 rebounds for the Las Vegas staff, and Kirstan Bell added 15 factors off the bench. Aces shoot higher than 52% from the sector as a staff, and almost 48% from behind the arc.
Cheyenne Parker led Atlanta with 19 factors, capturing 9-13 from the sector. Nia Coffey completed with 14 factors. They have been the one two Dream gamers to attain in double digits. They’ve solely gone 4-of-20 from the 3-point line as a staff, too.
There are 14 video games left of their common season, beginning with Sunday’s recreation towards the New York Liberty. They’re nonetheless with out star Candace Parker, who introduced final week that she had surgical procedure to repair a damaged foot.
Whereas there may be nonetheless a methods to go, the Aces are nicely on their strategy to making WNBA historical past. They solely want six extra wins to surpass the 2014 Phoenix Mercury’s document of 29 common season victories. The Comets solely misplaced three video games within the 1998 season as nicely, once they received their second of 4 straight titles. Though not dropping once more the remainder of the best way is an enormous ask, the Aces appear utterly unstoppable in the mean time. It will take so much to interrupt their run.