Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — I strolled over to owner Mark Davis, where he sat with his jeans and white blazer at center court before the Las Vegas Aces-Washington Mystics game.
“What do you think about the Aces being valued at $290 million,?” I asked the Aces/Raiders owner. “Sportico came out with the WNBA team values.”
Davis had no response. “I’m here to see the Aces try to get a win.”
Well, Davis walked out of Michelob ULTRA Arena without his team getting that victory.
This time, the Washington Mystics, which blew a win against the Aces on this same court earlier this season May 23, took care of business for 40 minutes and won their third straight with a 94-83 win over Las Vegas.
The Mystics may have won this game when they came out of halftime and scored 12 straight points on the Aces as their nine-point lead at intermission ballooned to more than 20. Las Vegas never caught up as Aces coach Becky Hammon pulled the starting five off the court and replaced them with five bench players.
The Aces have now won seven of their 15 games this season and their record does not lie. This is a team that is now middle-of-the-pack, allowing foes to get to the basket too easily and too get too many uncontested three-point shots from distance.
Washington, the WNBA’s youngest team, has a better record than Las Vegas at 8-8.
The Mystics had five players in double-fugure points, with 21 points from Sonia Citron and 17 from Sug Sutton. Lucy Olsen came off the bench to contribute 14.
A’ja Wilson had 22 points to lead Las Vegas, while Dana Evans came off the bench with 12.
At her presser, Hammon said the Aces either play terrific or poorly and there’s no in-between.
“We’ll continue to drown in two feet of water,” she said.
PSA