The Las Vegas Aces are rolling and the Atlanta Dream are reeling as the WNBA’s month-long break for the All-Star Game and the Olympics approaches.
The Aces (14-7) have won eight of nine as they visit the Dream (7-14), who have lost five straight, on Friday night.
“We’re trying to buckle down and get into the Olympic break on a good note,” Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said. “We have business to take care of.”
A’ja Wilson, who won’t get much of a break as she participates in both the All-Star Game and the Paris Olympics, had her first 20-20 game, finishing with 24 points and a career-high 20 rebounds in an 84-79 victory at Seattle on Wednesday.
“My shot wasn’t falling so I felt like I had to do something, and it turned out to be rebounding,” Wilson said.
All of the Aces struggled with their shooting early as the team trailed 36-30 after its second-lowest scoring first half of the season.
“I thought our defense was good from the jump,” Hammon said. “We were getting good looks. You just stay the course and know those numbers are going to turn. What you can always do is play good defense.”
The Dream trailed the Chicago Sky by one point with three minutes remaining, but they got outscored 10-2 the rest of the way in a 78-69 road loss Wednesday.
“I don’t think we did a great job of executing down the stretch,” Atlanta coach Tanisha Wright said. “We’ve got to keep trying to figure out ways to win a basketball game.”
Four of the Dream’s last five losses have been by single digits. They played without second-leading scorer Rhyne Howard and fellow guards Jordin Canada and Aerial Powers in Chicago.
“I think the message right now is to figure out ways to be mentally tough when things aren’t going our way,” Wright said. “Right now we’re in a stretch where things aren’t going our way, so we have to find ways to get better and stay mentally engaged when things aren’t going our way.”
Allisha Gray led Atlanta with 20 points and Haley Jones and Naz Hillmon scored 12 each.
“We’ve got to put it together for 40 minutes,” Gray said.
The Dream beat the visiting Aces 78-74 on May 31. Both teams will have two more games before the break begins next week.
–Field Level Media