Aces beat Sparks, set WNBA regular-season record for 3-pointers
Being without affirmation in the playoffs did not make the final of the season of meaningless Sparks.
It was a chance to avoid finishing with a record losing for the first time since 2020. An opportunity to thwart the push of the Las Vegas Aces for the seeded n ° 2 in the playoffs while derailing a sequence of consecutive victories. And, above all, a question of pride.
But as with their goal of the season to reach the playoffs, the Sparks did not succeed in their goal, because A’ja Wilson and the Aces dominated in a 103-75 victory in Crypto.com Arena.
The talented gap was striking in the first half, with Las Vegas, building an advance that swelled at 22 behind a three-point barrier led by Jewell Loyd and Chelsea Gray. One of the best three-point shooting teams in the League (34.6% per game entering Thursday), the AS (30-14) hit 11 three in the first half to take a 19-point lead.
The aces finished with 22 three points – the never ever realized in a game of the regular WNBA season. The AS already hold the record square of 23 three points, which they set in playoffs in 2022.
Loyd’s trio, Gray and Wilson proved to be too much for a short -term team of Sparks.
Loyd and Gray have reached double figures in half -time – Loyd with 21 and Gray with 13. Wilson, a first row for the Ligue MVP, delivered another dominant statistical line: 23 points, 19 rebounds, four blocks and two interceptions.
The striker of the sparks Emma Cannon, on the left, launches the ball from the hands of the goalkeeper of Las Vegas Chelsea Gray during the first half on Thursday.
(Harry How / Getty Images)
The ancient ASs of Dererica Hamby and Kelsey Plum tried to ensure that the sparks (21-23) of another victory, but it was not for nothing. Plum had its hands full of the opposing rear area, and Hamby attracted the uninvable mission to fight against the best in the League in Wilson.
Hamby opened Strong, scoring the seven points of the Sparks in the first six minutes while the team was trying to feed her in the position. She finished with 15 points, six rebounds and three interceptions.
Plum also finished with 15 points in a physical game that presented several players arguing with referees on false calls.
In the second quarter, Cameron Brink caught a left elbow in the nose of the AS Nalyssa Smith striker under the basket. The blood flowed from the face of brink on hardwood while Brink cried up to the referees after no fault was called.
The training staff escorted her in the locker room with a row pressed towards her face, and they did not come back.
By dragging 77-58 at the end of the third quarter, the coach of the Sparks, Lynne Roberts, put the recruits Sarah Ashlee Barker, Alissa Pili and Sania Feagin.
Barker scored 15 points in 38 minutes. Pilli scored a seven -point career summit in six minutes. Feagin finished with four points.
