A’ja Wilson shows up big again for red-host Las Vegas in 86-83 win
HIGHLIGHTS: Las Vegas 86, Mercury 83
PHOENIX — A’ja Wilson had 30 points and 16 rebounds, Chelsea Gray had 16 points and a season-high nine assists, and the Las Vegas Aces extended their winning streak to six games with an 86-83 victory over the host Phoenix Mercury on Friday at PHX Arena.
Jackie Young scored 17 points and Jewell Loyd had 10 points and two 3-pointers for the Aces (20-14), who moved into a virtual tie with the Mercury (19-13) for fourth place in the league standings.
NATE TIBBETTS POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
The Aces have not lost since suffering a 111-58 blowout loss at home to Minnesota on Aug. 2.
Gray scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, and her jumper gave the Aces an 84-79 lead with 1:14 remaining.
After the Mercury closed to one on Alyssa Thomas’s layup with 30 seconds left, Gray made two free throws after an errant Phoenix inbounds pass with eight-tenths of a second left to make it 86-83.
Gray blocked Satou Sabally’s long 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
Sabally had 26 points, Alyssa Thomas had 15 points and nine assists, and Kahleah Copper had 15 points for Mercury, who lost their second straight after a three-game winning streak.
Mercury Postgame Download: Satou Sabbally & Kahleah Copper
Wilson had her 16th double, tying Thomas for second in the league behind Chicago center Angel Reese, who has 17.
Wilson made 14 of 15 free throws and has made 31 of 32 in the last three games.
The Aces have won two of three in the season series and could claim the tie-breaker when the teams meet for the final time in Las Vegas next Friday. The top four teams have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The Mercury’s only win in the series came June 15, when Wilson missed the game with an injury.
The Mercury led by seven in the first quarter and six in the second before the Aces opened the third quarter on a 17-6 run to take their biggest lead, 58-48, when Young made a 3-pointer from the left wing with 3:56 left in the period.
The Aces led 60-59 after three quarters before the teams see-sawed through the fourth, when there were eight lead changes and four ties.
The Aces had a 39-30 rebounding edge.
–Field Level Media
