(photo credit / by J. Tyge O’Donnell) The action gets kicked off in the Michelob Ultra Arena as the Dream look for a game win this evening. They are still playing without one of their key players, Tiffany Hayes who is out for the season with a hip injury. They have to try and fill the star player’s shoes with her scoring 31 points in the last meeting against the Las Vegas Aces. A’ja Wilson comes out of the Woolworth, full speed, and scores to put Las Vegas on the boards first. Definitely, she has been in playoff mode and her focus is truly on the championship. Along with her teammate, Chelsea Gray has been shooting lights out at the start of the quarter. We have back-to-back 3’s from A’ja Wilson as she gives Las Vegas the early lead 10-9. Atlanta’s Maya Caldwell who is in her 7th consecutive game with the Dream slows the momentum down a bit against the Aces. The 1st quarter action remained close throughout for both teams. A 2-point differential was averaged in the quarter. The intensity was very high for both teams as A’ja Wilson nailed a three towards the end of the quarter. She finished the evening with a double-double; 24 points and 14 rebounds. Las Vegas leads 28-22. Atlanta’s Aari McDonald comes out at the start of the 2nd on a mission and scores a 20-footer. She was one of the Dream’s top scorers for the evening at 16 points. She always manages to pull out a stellar performance against the Aces. She’s definitely a player you wanna respect from the perimeter because she’s super quick as a hiccup. There’s plenty of action in the 2nd quarter, it’s like a see-saw in scoring this quarter. However, neither team ran low on fuel! The Aces’ lead is 34-30 in the 2nd. The Aces, Jackie Young showed to be a strong contributor to the team’s strong performance tonight. She racked up 20 points for Las Vegas. Kelsey Plum was letting it be known that she’s the silent killer from downtown on offense-she scored 22 points for the night. It was definite playoff vibes and energy throughout the 3rd with several lead changes. In the 4th, Las Vegas says it all belongs to them and take off and dominates with a 9-point lead 78-69 with 6:46 left to play. The Dream fight and claw throughout the quarter, Rhyne Howard nails a three to tie the game at 78 with 5:32 left. Aces are looking to attack to not allow Atlanta to gain the lead back on them. The Dream went on 14-2 run. Chelsea Gray saves the Aces from an upset by nailing 2 very crucial free throws as the Aces take the lead. Time runs out and Las Vegas steals the win 97-90.
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