LAS VEGAS – The Aces needed ‘Special Agent 0’ to be every bit of special Thursday night.
With Vegas facing the young Washington Mystics for the second time in 72 hours, the rest of the team looked a little sluggish — almost a step off the pace.
It was one of those games where the Aces needed somebody not named A’ja Wilson to do the bulk of the heavy lifting, and luckily for head coach Becky Hammon and co., they have more than one former No. 1 WNBA Draft pick in the fold.
Befitting the game being broadcast on Amazon Prime, Jackie Young delivered the goods.
Young came up just two points shy of her career high as she dropped a season-high 32 on an efficient 10-for-14 from the field (5-8 3PT), with five assists, guiding the Aces to their second straight win, 83-76 — clinching a playoff berth and the season series over Washington.
“That’s back-to-back games now that we’ve won fourth quarters. We like that,” Hammon said. “That has been a struggle area for us. I see our defense picking up, and that’s the main thing. [The Mystics] are a tough team to hold in the 70s, with that kind of firepower and the bigs that they have.”
It became apparent that it was going to be that type of a night for Young very quickly. She poured in 15 points (5-7 FG) in the first quarter and had 18 at the half — with no other Ace having more than five points — as the Aces built a 38-32 advantage.
The Mystics found an opening to close the gap in the third quarter, largely thanks to Young taking just one field goal attempt and the rest of the Aces finishing the game 14-for-45 from the field.
However, ahead by three going into the fourth, the Aces stayed in front courtesy of Young’s resurgent, timely takeover. With the contest all tied up at 62-62, Young turned up the heat with 12 straight points. The last one, a transition heat check triple, put the Aces in firm control, 74-64, with 4:17 remaining. Averaging a little over 25 points per game over her last eight, she was not going to let the Aces lose. Not tonight.
“These things come in waves,” Hammon said of Young not seeing the ball much in the third. “They’re going to make adjustments, just like we do. … The good news about this team, we don’t have to sit there and force feed [anybody]. If they take something away, we go to the next option. We have a lot of options out there.
“At times, teams are totally committed to taking away [Wilson], then we have to get other people going. The best way to help A’ja in those moments is for [Jewell Loyd] to hit shots, and for other people to come in and hit shots and just loosen the defense up a little bit.
“Jackie came out, and she was on a burner, obviously, and I thought they just jacked up their physicality; they weren’t letting us move and run as much, [but] eventually, you stay with the grind, and you shake loose.”
Shake loose Young did, with some help from the aforementioned Loyd — who, after starting the game 0-for-4 from the field, buried a pair of huge triples late in the third, helping the Aces maintain their lead.
Known for her scoring, Loyd has struggled to really find her groove so far this season. Even tonight, she shot 3-for-9. However, as a shooter, seeing the looks that did go in fall will have done her the world of good.
“It’s always great to hit shots,” she said. “It helps with everything, also with momentum as well. We needed another spark, and that kind of united us a lot. But everything started with our defense. That’s how we got some open looks down the stretch.”
Wilson being held to just 15 points on 5-for-14 shooting did not hurt the Aces in the end, despite her counterpart Shakira Austin dominating the interior for 29 points (12-20 FG) and eight rebounds. Neither did Chelsea Gray going 1-for-10.
The Mystics made seven more field goals than the Aces, but the hosts canceled that disparity out at the free-throw line, where they went 25-for-27 — including a valuable 6-for-6 from Mai Yamamoto. Washington converted eight of its 16 attempts at the stripe.
Improving to 24-11 overall, the Aces could well benefit from Wilson having her ‘off game’ tonight. The same goes for 'The Point Gawd'. And that’s because right around the corner, the league-leading Minnesota Lynx (28-7) are coming into town on Saturday.
As the Aces look to keep pace with the Lynx and the Golden State Valkyries (24-9) in the standings, the weekend is certainly when Hammon will want to have her four-time MVP and the entire big three firing on all cylinders.