LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Las Vegas Aces are continuing their perfect start to the season after beating the Los Angeles Sparks 94-85 on Thursday night. This marks the team's second victory after beating the Seattle Storm on Saturday. The team was lead by assistant coach Natalie Nakase who was leading the team while head coach Becky Hammon finished her two-game suspension.
Nakase said she could feel a little bit of Hammon with her at Crypto.com Arena.
"Everything that kind of came to my mind in the game were reactions with what I learned with Becky," Nakase said. "She's hands-down one of the best coaches in the world and I'm lucky to learn from her."
RELATED LINK: 1-on-1 with Aces head coach Becky Hammon
Aces guard Jackie Young had a career-high 30 points with A'ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray rounding out the top three scorers with 19 points and 16 points respectively. Wilson said it was great to see Young, who was named the 2022 WNBA Most Improved Player, to come into her own.
"I'm so glad she's coming within herself. Jackie is one of the best two-way guards in this league. She works hard," Wilson said. "Now she's starting to understand when someone is in front of her, they can't guard her and we saw that tonight."
It was also a physical game with Nakase saying in the post-game presser that the referees "allowed shoving." During the game, Wilson was given a technical foul and a flagrant foul on separate plays within six minutes of each other.
"I'm not going to let anyone think they can walk all over us, including my teammates. I don't want to get a flagrant foul but if it takes that to get attention to what's going on, I'll do it," Wilson said. "My teammates continue to talk to me and uplift me and tell me not to talk or else I would end up getting kicked out of the game. I just want to be a good teammate and play the best that I can."
The two teams are traveling to Las Vegas for another matchup on Saturday at Mandalay Bay's Michelob Ultra Arena. It's also when the Aces will get their WNBA Championship Rings in honor of winning last year's title. Guard Chelsea Gray said it should be a night to remember.
"A lot of players come into this league and it's hard to win a championship. There's a select few in the world who have won this," Gray said. "You have to be in the moment and embrace it and own it. You don't get that group back. We talk about playing and our careers and it's a short snippet in life."
Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
