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The roll that the Las Vegas Aces has been on since the all-star break has kept going along without much of a hitch as the team added a seventh win in eight outings.
“I think we’ve just been capitalizing on little things that we’ve seen throughout the season,” forward Theresa Plaisance said. “We don’t have much time this season to practice outside of games. So through games and continuous films we saw little discrepancies that now we’re correcting.”
Las Vegas finished out the regular season sweep of the Indiana Fever by winning the third and final meeting, 94-69, Sunday, July 31 from Hinkle Fieldhouse.
The average margin of victory was nearly 20 points for the Aces in games played against the Fever this season.
With the Chicago Sky (23-7) winning earlier in the day, Las Vegas (22-8) still sit a game out from the best record in the WNBA. The Connecticut Sun (20-10) are now three games behind for the top spot in the league.
“We just try to build off of each game,” guard Jackie Young said. “I think the biggest thing for us right now is just focusing on the defensive end. We know we can score the ball, we just need to execute on the defensive end.”
For now, Las Vegas will continue on its 13-day, five-game road trip with a visit to the Washington Mystics next.
The Mystics have won both meetings against the Aces this season, one on each floor.
“They’re a quality team,” head coach Becky Hammon said. “They become elite when [former league MVP Elena] Delle Donne plays. Even when she doesn’t play, they’re a well-oiled machine. They’re very well-coached, everybody plays their roles very well for them so they’re going to be a handful.” That game will take place Tuesday, Aug. 2 with tip-off set for 4 p.m. PST.
Guard Kelsey Plum scored 19 of her game-high 26 points in the third quarter. That feat broke the franchise-record for the most points in a quarter, breaking a three-way performance tie between herself and Hammon.
“I wish somebody would’ve told me because I would’ve pulled her out,” Hammon said with a smile. “When she’s rolling, you just let her go.”
When made aware of the accomplishment, Plum said, “Honestly, I don’t care. I really don’t care. I just wanted to make sure that we handled business.”
Since returning from the all-star break, she is averaging 21 points per game in seven games played.
She scored her 26 points on an efficient 9-of-12 from the field with three made threes. Over the last two games, both against Indiana, she has combined for 48 points on 17-of-23 shooting.
“I feel like for me there’s a lot I can still get better at,” Plum said. “I’m just trying to get better and help my team win. I’m not really concerned about individualistic things.”
Las Vegas built a lead as large as 23 points in that third quarter en route to being up as many as 39 in the fourth.
In addition, the Aces scored 20 or more points in every quarter while keeping the Fever from doing so through the first three quarters.
Everybody in uniform played for the second consecutive game for Las Vegas.
Plaisance scored 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting after starting the game a perfect 5-for-5.
Fellow reserve forward Kiah Stokes also came up big with 10 rebounds to go along with six points.
“When you’re a championship team and you have your eyes set on the bigger picture which is winning a championship for us,” Plaisance said. “It’s 1 through 12. The bench needs to stay ready, our guards carry a big load.”
Forward A’ja Wilson had another fast start, scoring six of the first seven points of the game for the Aces.
For the remainder of the game, she would be held in check before finishing with 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting in 21 minutes of action.
“Our team has so many weapons, interior and exterior,” Plaisance said. “If you take one away, you see everybody else really step up. When you have a player as dominant as A’ja is on the offensive end and you have a night where she’s seeing a crowd like she typically does, we’ve been doing a really good job of feeding it in and her finding the extra person.”
Indiana played without leading scorer Kelsey Mitchell, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the season due to injury.
“They have the next-man-up mentality too,” Hammon said. “One Mitchell stepped out, another Mitchell stepped in. Obviously, she changed our schemes a little bit because of her absence. We were able to really lock in on [No. 2 overall pick in the WNBA Draft NaLyssa] Smith in the first half.”
Smith scored a team-high 18 points, 14 of which came in the fourth quarter, followed by 16 points off-the-bench from rookie guard Destanni Henderson.
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