A’ja Wilson, Aces come on strong, knock off Dream

A'ja Wilson warmed up after a slow start Sunday night to score a game-high 21 points and the host Las Vegas Aces upped their record to 27-3 by stopping the Atlanta Dream 86-65.

Wilson added nine rebounds and five steals for the Aces, who also got 17 points and six boards from Jackie Young. Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray each tallied 13 points and Cayla George came off the bench to contribute 11, including going 3 of 5 from the 3-point line.

It was the 20th straight home win in regular-season play for Las Vegas, which pulled away in the fourth quarter, outscoring Atlanta 28-15. The Aces forced 16 turnovers overall and limited the Dream to 37.1 percent shooting from the field.

Allisha Gray scored 19 points for Atlanta (15-16), which lost for the fifth time in six games and fell to 0-3 on its western road swing. Cheyenne Parker added 13 points and while Rhyne Howard netted 12 but was just 4 of 14 from the field. Nia Coffey chipped in 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The first three quarters were tighter than one might have expected as Atlanta was able to slow Las Vegas' high-powered attack. The Aces scored 104 and 113 points in their previous two games but had only 36 by halftime, making just 12 of 35 shots from the field.

Most notable was that Wilson, who was coming off a career-high 40 points in Friday night's 24-point rout of Washington, hit only 2 of 9 attempts in the first half. What's more, the 6-foot-5 center found foul trouble, picking up her third foul with 3:26 left in the half.

However, Las Vegas was able to lock in on defense and hold Atlanta to 12 of 34 shooting from the field in the half. And when Young drilled a 3-pointer right before the end of the third quarter, the Aces took a 58-50 advantage.

Las Vegas will host New York on Tuesday night in the league's third annual Commissioner's Cup game, with players from the winning team earning $30,000 apiece and the game MVP picking up an extra $5,000.