LAS VEGAS -- NaLyssa Smith has made her presence felt since joining the Aces on June 30. On Tuesday night against the Atlanta Dream, she not only continued to contribute to the team’s momentum but also reached a personal milestone.
Averaging 6.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game with Vegas, Smith entered the night needing just four points to hit 1,500 career points.
She delivered, and then some.
Starting off strong, Smith made an immediate impact by staying alert and in position, quickly deflecting the ball on the defensive end. Just 20 seconds later, with an assist from Jackie Young, Smith put up her first points of the night, a smooth 3-pointer at the 8:21 mark in the first quarter. Two minutes later, she sealed her milestone moment with a cutting finger roll, officially surpassing 1,500 career points.
“She’s really fit in quite seamlessly,” Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said. “She’s bright, she plays hard, she does some things in rebounding and screening and just being a threat down there for us that I like. We’re going to continue to grow her, especially defensively. I really liked her game. She cooked us one time in Indy. I was like, ‘That girl is talented,’ and so we want to bring that out in her.”
Returning off the bench in the fourth quarter, Smith kept the momentum alive with a jumper at the 6:54 mark, pushing the Aces’ lead back into double digits, which eventually turned into the win.
Most importantly, Smith continued to do the things that don't show up on the stat sheet, disrupting pass lanes and lending a hand to A'ja Wilson in the paint.
“The stat is the W,” Hammon said on Smith’s effectiveness. “She’s still learning our defensive footwork in the post, because it’s a little different, and she’s starting to get the hang of it.”
Smith finished as the Aces’ fourth-leading scorer of the night, tallying 11 points on an efficient 71.4% shooting from the field.
“I’m always going to celebrate Lyss,” Wilson said. “I mean, I was so happy when she shot that 3 today, because I just was screaming, like, ‘Just trust it.’ So when you have people that are like that, that are ready to rock and roll at the right time, good things happen. So I'm very pleased at how we worked today.”
After the game, the 24-year-old reflected on both her transition to Las Vegas and hitting her milestone.
“It's been great,” Smith said. “The only way I could describe it is that it's like a family. I feel like everybody is here to help me, and everybody's been such a huge help for me.
"Shout out to my team, you know, getting me the ball. I didn't even know I hit 1,500, so that was fire to hear.”