LAS VEGAS – To the surprise of absolutely nobody, A’ja Wilson is the story.
The four-time MVP was as inspired as ever on Monday night, leading the Aces to a 101-91 Commissioner's Cup victory over the Seattle Storm with a near triple-double (34 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists).
Though the visitors caused the defending champions some problems — particularly on the defensive end, much to the frustration of coach Becky Hammon — their effort was not enough to stop the Aces (8-3) from winning their third straight Commissioner’s Cup game (3-0), and their second straight at Michelob ULTRA Arena after an 0-2 start to the season at home.
Wilson was the ultimate highlight as she became the youngest player in WNBA history to reach 6,000 career points. She was 30 away heading into the game and needed just 278 games to accomplish the feat.
Additionally, Wilson is the only player ever to put together a 34-12-9 statline. She also flexed her dominance at the other end of the floor with three blocks and one steal — the former seeing her move into No. 7 all-time in blocked shots.
Wilson went 10-19 from the field, 11-13 at the free throw line, and 3-5 from beyond the arc — putting on display her full arsenal of unguardable weaponry.
“It’s a blessing, I give it all to God,” Wilson said of her historic night. “I’m able to show up to work everyday with phenomenal women that make me wanna do what I wanna do, and I hope that I can make them wanna do what they wanna do.
“It has just been an incredible journey and ride and obviously, we’re not done yet. We have a lot more to do. But it’s a blessing. Every single day, I thank God for just covering me and guiding me through a lot of different things in life, but always showing up. And I’m able to just be me. And I’m so grateful for the woman that I am and the woman I’m going to become as well.
“It has been a journey, it hasn’t been easy, but I love it.”
The Aces found an edge at the charity stripe, with the Storm’s young frontcourt featuring last year’s No. 2 pick Dominique Malonga and this year’s No. 3 pick Awa Fam having trouble slowing down Wilson and co. without fouling — especially in the first half when the Aces shot 18 free throws (16-18). Wilson attempted all 13 of hers in the opening 20 minutes.
The hosts stretched the floor more after the interval, with Jackie Young joining the scoring party. ‘Agent 0’ buried four triples (4-9 3PT) and ended the game with 29 points — 14 in the fourth quarter — 3 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Chelsea Gray began chipping away at making the newly broken all-time franchise assists record untouchable as she produced eight highlight reel worthy dimes to go along with 12 points and 5 boards.
NaLyssa Smith provided a welcome spark inside with 16 points and 9 rebounds. She went a perfect 6-6 from the field and had a dazzling stretch of three straight and-ones in the second quarter — all off no-look dishes from Gray — en-route to 11 points in the frame.
“(Hammon) has been emphasizing and-one’s for me,” Smith said. “Just going up there, being aggressive, being physical. I love to play physical. It’s just about trying to get into the body, draw contact, making one free throw is easier than making two, so I’m trying to get as many and-one’s as I can.”
One blemish on what was overall an euphoric night at ‘The House’ was the Aces’ defense. Luckily for Hammon’s sanity, the Aces had done the bulk of the heavy lifting in the first three quarters.
A furious Hammon called a timeout with 3:51 remaining in the third — her team ahead 63-57, but leaking easy buckets. The Aces responded immediately with a 15-2 run to end the quarter, building a cozy 72-59 advantage that was enough cushion to make the Storm winning the fourth quarter 32-29 irrelevant. The Aces have now won four straight.
The Storm had four players in double figures with Malonga leading the way with 19. Fam added 16. Natisha Hiedeman (17) and Flau’jae Johnson (13) combined for 30.
“I have to look at the pick-and-roll defense,” Hammon said. “I didn’t love (Malonga) and (Fam) getting some points off those on us. But we just have to stay at a certain level defensively. A certain level of intensity and focus, and I thought we lost it a little bit (down the stretch).”
The fourth quarter was all about Wilson and her unequivocal greatness. She stepped into an uncontested midrange jumper to pass the 6,000-point mark. She followed it with a wing three — her third of the game — to blow the roof off the MUA.
The dying embers were dedicated to trying to get Wilson her triple-double. Young caught fire and tried her best, but that last shot would not fall. However, despite coming up just short in that category, Wilson continues to do something nobody else ever has each time she sets foot on the hardwood.