GAME PREVIEW: Aces vs. Sparks

LAS VEGAS (July 15, 2018)–Las Vegas is back at Mandalay Bay Events Center, Sunday, for a 3 pm PT tip against the Los Angeles Sparks. The Aces bring with them a four-game winning streak—the longest for the franchise since they ran off 12 straight back during the 2012 campaign.

Las Vegas’ most recent victory was an 85-78 road win over the defending champion Minnesota Lynx. That helped the Aces keep pace with Connecticut and Atlanta in the race for WNBA postseason positioning. Las Vegas is in ninth place, one-and-a-half-games back of the Sun. The top eight teams in the league advance to the playoffs regardless of conference.

Team W L Pct GB
Seattle 15 6 .714
Phoenix 14 8 .636 1.5
Washington 13 8 .619 2.0
Dallas 12 8 .600 2.5
Los Angeles 13 9 .591 2.5
Minnesota 12 9 .571 3.0
Atlanta 11 9 .550 3.5
Connecticut 11 10 .524 4.0
Las Vegas 10 12 .455 5.5
Chicago 7 14 .333 8.0
New York 6 14 .300 8.5
Indiana 2 19 .095 13.0

 

After beginning the year with a 1-7 record, Las Vegas has gone 9-5 over its last 14 games. The Aces’ improvement has come on both ends of the floor, but particularly on the offensive end.

Offense Defense
FG% 3G% TOs PPG ORPct OER 3G% DRPct DER
1-7 start .409 .286 14.9 78.9 .227 92.0 .384 .738 106.1
9-5 since .456 .412 13.1 85.2 .262 103.2 .307 .771 100.3

 

Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player candidate A’ja Wilson and perennial All-Star candidate Kayla McBride have been the two lead horses for the Aces the season. Wilson has a Rookie of the Month and Western Conference Player of the Week honors on her résumé so far this season, and is expected to be named to the All-Star Team this Tuesday.

Wilson is third in the league in scoring (20.1) and rebounding (8.8), and sixth in blocked shots (1.77). McBride is ninth in scoring (19.2), 10th in three-point field goal percentage (.413) and fifth in free throw percentage (.902).

The pair are averaging a combined 41.3 points per game over the last 14 games.

PPG RPG APG FG% 3G% FT%
Wilson 20.0 9.3 2.9 45.8 78.3
McBride 21.3 3.7 3.5 48.8 42.3 93.5

 

The Sparks have lost six of their last eight games after beginning the season with an 11-3 record. Los Angeles has three double-figure scorers in Candice Parker (16.7), Nneka Ogwumike (16.1) and Chelsea Gray (14.5), but the Sparks make their money on the defensive end. They rank third in the WNBA in defensive efficiency (98.7 points per 100 possessions), and are particularly effective at patrolling the perimeter where they allow the opposition to make just 30.3 percent of their three-pointers.

The Aces and Sparks split their first two meetings of the season with each team winning by double-digits on its home court.