Content provided by the Las Vegas Aces.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The Las Vegas Aces (4-1) remain on the road this weekend, traveling to Atlanta Friday for a 4 pm PT tip against the Dream (3-2). The game is being broadcast nationally via ION and on the radio locally at FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9 FM / 1340 AM.
After four-straight home games to open the 2024 season, the Aces found themselves on the road for the first time Wednesday evening, upending the Minnesota Lynx, 80-66 (box score/recap). A’ja Wilson set a WNBA record in the proces,s posting her fifth-straight game of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds (29 points, season-high-tying 15 boards). That was Wilson’s second-straight game of at least 15 rebounds, and should she grab 15 or more against the Dream, she would become just the seventh player in league history to nab 15+ in three consecutive games.
Wilson has already established herself as the leading contender for the 2024 M’VP award as she ranks second in the WNBA in scoring (26.2 ppg), first in rebounding (13.2 rpg), and third in blocked shots (2.60 bpg). Only 3 players in league history have averaged a 20 and 10 season (Chamique Holdsclaw, 2003; Candace Parker, 2010; and Sylvia Fowles, 2011), and only 2 have posted averages of 20+ points, 10+ rebounds and 2+ blocked shots in a season.
As a team, the Aces once again boast the most efficient offense in the W, averaging 108.0 points per 100 possessions. They turn the ball over on a league-low 13.6 percent of their possessions, and have the third-highest effective shooting percentage in the WNBA (.503).
Jackie Young is averaging 21.8 points per game, giving the Aces a pair of 20+ point scorers on the year. Only two sets of teammates have ever finished a season averaging 20 or more points in the same season (Phoenix’s Diana Taurasi (20.7) and Brittney Griner (20.5) in 2018, and Taurasi (24.1) and Cappie Pondexter (21.2) in 2008). Kelsey Plum is just shy of Wilson and Young averaging 18.6 points per game. No team in league history has ever had three 20+ game scorers on its roster.
In addition to her scoring, Young has been Las Vegas’ primary ball distributor in the absence of Point Gawd Chelsea Gray, and she finds herself on pace to record a number of noteworthy achievements.
Young’s 8.2 assists per game leads the WNBA. Only 2 other players in franchise history have accomplished that feat—Danielle Robinson (2013), San Antonio, 6.72; and Becky Hammon (2007), San Antonio, 5.00.
Young’s 8.2 assists per game would set the franchise record set by Gray a year ago (7.3).
Young’s assist-to-turnover ratio of 5.13 would be, by far, the best in league history by a player who averaged at least 4.0 assists per game
Young’s scoring average of 21.8 ppg would be the second-highest in WNBA history for a player who averaged at least 5.0 assists per game (Cynthia Cooper, 1999, 22.1 ppg, 5.2 apg), and the highest for a player who averaged at least 6.0 assists per game.
Young could also become just the sixth player in WNBA history to average 20 or more points and 5 or more assists per game, and just the second player to average 20 or more points and 6 or more assists per game (Diana Taurasi, 2013, 20.3 ppg, 6.2 apg).
On the defensive side of the ball, Las Vegas is grabbing a league-high 75.8 percent of all available rebounds, while sending the opposition to the free throw line a league low 12.2 times per game. That free throw rate would break the WNBA record of 13.2 opponent free throw attempts per game set by the 2003 Houston Comets.
Atlanta has alternated wins and losses thus far in 2024, most recently picking up a 73-67 road win at Washington on Wednesday (box score). 2022 WNBA Rookie of the Year Rhyne Howard leads the Dream offense, posting career-highs of 19.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 3.0 steals per game. Allisha Gray (16.2 ppg), free agent acquisition Tina Charles (14.0) and Cheyenne Parker (12.6) are also scoring in double figures for Atlanta.
As a team, the Dream have the fifth-most efficient offense in the W (102.2 points per 100 possessions), turning the ball over less frequently than any team save the Aces (14.2 TOpg), while getting to the free throw line the third most times in the league (20.6 FTApg).
Defensively, Atlanta is eighth in the league in defensive efficiency (101.0 points per 100 possessions). The Dream force the third fewest turnovers per game in the WNBA (13.4 TOpg), and send the opposition to the free throw line more than all but three other teams. Opponents are making just 41.6 percent of their field goal attempts against Atlanta, and 31.0 percent of their three-pointers.
Las Vegas is 22-17 all-time against Atlanta, with wins in 5 straight games and 10 of the last 11 meetings between the clubs.
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