While they were on a run of four consecutive wins, the Las Vegas Aces had to face the New York Liberty without their superstar, and big favorite for the MVP trophy of the season, A'ja Wilson.
Having suffered an ankle injury in the previous match, the center missed her first WNBA match… since 2019!
“It's never a good time for this to happen, but she has a few days to heal that ankle and enjoy some rest.” explains his coach, Becky Hammon, at a press conference.
The two-time defending champions play again on Wednesday, against Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever, and A'ja Wilson therefore has a few days to recover. Without their star, the Aces lost (75-71) on the court of Liberty, leader of the WNBA this season. But Kelsey Plum (25 points, 6 assists) and her teammates gave Breanna Stewart (21 points, 11 rebounds), Sabrina Ionescu and company cold sweats, erasing a 20-point deficit to take the lead in “money-time”. Without managing to conclude, however.
The end of a series of 172 consecutive matches
A rather “encouraging” defeat for Las Vegas, still fourth (22 wins – 13 losses) in this complicated WNBA season for the Nevada club, and which intends to find its leader very quickly.
“She’s very competitive. She loves to compete and she really takes care of her body.”concludes Becky Hammon, very reassuring about the health of her player. “She makes all the decisions off the field that you never see or hear about to put herself in the best position possible to perform at her best every night. She’s truly a professional…and she’s tough. She plays through fatigue. Through pain, which isn’t something that everybody gets to do.”
For A'ja Wilson, this absence “as a precaution” marks in any case the end of an impressive series of 172 consecutive games in the WNBA, the longest among players currently active in the women's league.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots made / Shots attempted; 3pts = 3-pointers / 3-pointers attempted; LF = Free throws made / Free throws attempted; O = Offensive rebound; D = Defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = Assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Steals; Bp = Loose balls; Ct: Blocks; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the court; Pts = Points; Eval: Player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
