After celebrating a stage A’ja Wilson on Wednesday, Las Vegas Aces will try a victory over the mystics of Washington visiting Thursday evening.
Wilson made the history of the WNBA during the victory of AS 85-59 on Connecticut Sun visiting 22 points which included its 5,000th career point. Wilson became the fastest to reach the 5,000 set, which did it in its 238th match, four games faster than Breanna Stewart.
Wilson, 28, is also the fastest and youngest player to reach 5,000 points with 2,000 rebounds, 500 assists, 400 blocked shots and 200 interceptions.
“It’s a blessing,” said Wilson in the dissemination of the NBA network. “I did my best to give everything to the game.”
And yet, Wilson was just as ecstatic about the defense of Las Vegas, which allowed a season of low points while holding the sun at 32.4% of ground shooting. The AS (7-7) forced five reversals in the first five minutes and maintained an advance of 19-0 less than 10 minutes after the match.
“We must first rest, so we have to continue focusing on the defender,” said Wilson. “We have a good mystic team that is coming. They run and live and play very well.”
Washington (7-8) is indeed playing his best season’s basketball, corresponding to a top of the season with two consecutive victories. The most recent of them was an impressive 68-64 victory Tuesday against Minnesota Lynx, who entered the match with a 12-1 record of the WNBA.
Shakira Austin scored 19 points for Washington, including two in a 6-0 sequence to close the match. The lynx, who played without Napheesa Collier, was 0 for 2 of the ground with a turnover in the last 29.1 seconds.
Austin was 7 for 18 on the ground with eight rebounds, three assists and two interceptions.
“She has always been a talented individual player, but now you really see her kissing a teammate, wanting to grow, wanting to connect,” said Washington coach Sydney Johnson about Austin. “She sees the value by passing, by being part of what we build. It appears in the way she manages the double teams, how she picks up her teammates, speaks to them on the bench.”
The recruit of Mystics, Kiki Iriafen, collected 11 points and 11 rebounds for its fifth double-double of the season, while Sug Sutton scored 12 points.
The top scorer of the mystics, Brittney Sykes, who has an average of 19.6 points per game, missed Tuesday’s match with a lower leg injury.
– field level media