Aces stay on the road with Friday visit to Atlanta on ION

July 11, 2024 – Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Las Vegas Aces press release

ATLANTA – The Las Vegas Aces continue to be on the road this Friday, as they travel to Atlanta for a 4:30 p.m. PT tipoff against the Dream (7-14). The game will be televised nationally on ION.

The Aces are coming off an 84-79 road win over Seattle (box score) to improve to 14-7 on the year and move past the Storm into 4th place in the WNBA standings. It is also Vegas’ 8th win in their last 9 games since falling to 6-6 on the year on June 15. In those last nine games, the Aces have the league’s most efficient offense (110.8 OER) and 4th most efficient defense (97.1 DER).

A’ja Wilson has been pushing for her third M’VP award all season and shows no signs of slowing down. In May and June of this year, she became the first player in WNBA history to average 25 or more points and 10 or more rebounds in consecutive months, and she’s threatening to do it again in July (26.6 ppg, 12.0 rpg).

Her season scoring average of 26.9 points per game threatens to break Diana Taurasi’s 2006 scoring record of 25.3 points per game. She also ranks second in the league in rebounding (11.3 rpg), first in blocked shots (2.7 bpg), fifth in steals (1.9 spg) and ninth in field goal percentage (.520). Her blocked shot average is the highest in the W since Brittney Griner blocked 3.15 shots per game in 2016.

Teammates Jackie Young (19.1 ppg) and Kelsey Plum (18.9 ppg) give the Aces three players averaging 18 or more points per game. No team in WNBA history has ever finished the season with three players averaging 18 or more points each.

The Dream have been bitten by the injury bug this season, as 2024 signing Jordin Canada has only appeared in four games. 2022 WNBA Rookie of the Year Rhyne Howard has been limited to 13 games.

The losses leave Atlanta with the league’s least efficient offense (94.6 OER) and last in the WNBA in scoring average (75.5) and field goal percentage (.411).

Alisha Gray is the team’s driving force with 16.3 points per game, while free agent Tina Charles, acquired in the offseason, averages 13.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

Defensively, the Dreams rank in the middle of the pack (101.3 DER), thanks to an effort that limited opponents to the fourth-lowest field goal percentage in the league (.429).

The Aces have a 22-18 record against the Dream and had won 10 of 11 games before losing 78-74 in Atlanta on May 31 (score/recap).

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