ATLANTA (July 11, 2024)—The Las Vegas Aces remain on the road this Friday as they travel to Atlanta for a 4:30 pm PT tip against the Dream (7-14). The game is being broadcast nationally on ION.
The Aces are coming off of an 84-79 road win over Seattle (box score/recap) that saw them improve to 14-7 on the year and move past the Storm into 4th place in the WNBA standings. It is also Las Vegas’ 8th win in its last 9 games since dropping to 6-6 on the year back on June 15. Over those last nine games, the Aces own the most efficient offense (110.8 OER) and the 4th most efficient defense (97.1. DER) in the league.
A’ja Wilson has been making the case for her third M’VP award all season long, 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 is threatening to do so again for the month of July (26.6 ppg, 12.0 rpg).
Her season scoring average of 26.9 points per game is threatening to break the league scoring mark of 25.3 ppg set by Diana Taurasi in 2006. She also ranks 2nd in the league in rebounding (11.3 rpg), 1st in blocked shots (2.7 bpg), 5th in steals (1.9 spg) and 9th in field goal percentage (.520). Her blocked shots 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 3 players averaging 18 or more points per game. No team in WNBA history has ever finished the season with 3 players each averaging 18 or more points
The Dream have been bitten by the injury bug this season as free agent acquisition Jordin Canada has appeared in just 4 games in 2024. The 2022 WNBA Rookie of the Year Rhyne Howard has been limited to 13 games.
Because of those losses, Atlanta has the least efficient offense in the league (94.6 OER), and ranks last in the WNBA in scoring average (75.5) and field goal percentage (.411).
Alisha Gray lads the team in scoring at 16.3 points per game, while offseason free agent acquisition Tina Charles is chipping in 13.8 points and 8.5 rebounds a contest.
Defensively, the Dream are in the middle of the pack (101.3 DER), thanks to an effort that holds opponents to the fourth-lowest field goal percentage in the league (.429).
The Aces are 22-18 all-time against the Dream, and had won 10 of 11 heading into the season before dropping an 78-74 decision in Atlanta back on May 31 (box score/recap).