US Vice President Kamala Harris is presented with a Las Vegas Aces jersey from the Aces A’ja Wilson at the White House on Fri Aug 25, 2023 to celebrate last season’s Aces WNBA championship victory. Harris who gets the number 49 for being the US’s 49th vice president. The Aces played against the Washington Mystics the next night Sat Aug 26, 2023 in DC (AP News photo)
By Barbara Mason
The Las Vegas Aces (30-5) are heading into the final stretch of the regular season. They are fresh off a visit to the White House yesterday welcomed by Vice-President Kamala Harris. She led a celebration for the 2022 WNBA champions.
She was full of praise for not only the grit and determination that they showcased on the court but also the ferocious advocacy in support of colleague Brittney Griner during her detention in Russia. It was a memorable and emotional day for the team. Saturday it was back to business as the team took on the Washington Mystics (16-18) and took their fifth loss of the season losing to the Mystics 78-62.
Two minutes into the game, the Aces were finally able to get up on the board but had some ground to make up trailing 13-2 at 5:54. It was another slow start for Las Vegas. These slow starts have become uncomfortable lately, and with the playoffs just around the corner they will want to clean that up.
They want to ensure a number one seed when they do go into the playoffs. As the first quarter came to an end, the Aces had fought off the slow start. After having trailed by as much as eleven points, they now trailed by a deuce 19-17. The Mystics had applied pressure to the Aces on the interior and it was working.
At 7:18 the Aces hit the first basket of the second quarter to tie up the game at 19. They did go on a 6-0 run in the quarter but it was not at all the quality basketball that we typically see from this team.
They did lead at halftime 30-27 and had held the Mystics to an 8 point quarter but they had 13 turnovers in the half which was doing them no favors. It was not a great half for Las Vegas. The Mystics continued to control the paint and between the turnovers and missed shots, it was not a great first half for the Aces.
Neither team had players that came away from the first two quarters with double digits. It was just a slow game with inconsistent shooting from both teams. It was an interesting first half with the Aces only shooting at 33% to the Mystics 25%.
Las Vegas was at 18.8% from beyond the arc while the Mystics were 0 of 13. It was just a slow as molasses kind of game. The second half would show if the Aces could continue the second half success that they had shown all season.
The Mystics continued with the game plan that had brought so much success in the first half. After three quarters Washington held a slim lead 52-48. The Mystics had held the highest scoring team in the WNBA to under 50 points after three. Washington won the third quarter 25-18. The Aces had a single quarter to turn this game around.
At 7:38 the Mystics had a 57-50 lead and never looked back. With under five minutes left in the game, Las Vegas trailed by a significant number 63-52. The Aces couldn’t buy a bucket in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
With three minutes left in the game, Las Vegas was in trouble trailing 66-54. The final was 78-62 in favor of Washington who had everything to play for sitting in eighth place in the standings.
This was the second lowest scoring game of the season for the Aces. They had dropped a game earlier in the season to the Liberty 99-61. They are looking very vulnerable right now which is concerning. They finished with 13 turnovers and they were outscored from the field and from beyond the arc. The Mystics had a great game plan and executed it flawlessly.
Monday night Las Vegas will take on the New York Liberty as they continue to play on the road. This will not be an easy task for the team and they certainly have a lot to clean up. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 PM.
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