A’ja Wilson continues MVP push with one other 30-point recreation to steer Aces to tenth straight win

A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces can’t be stopped proper now. Wilson poured in 36 factors on Saturday afternoon to steer the Aces previous the Washington Mystics, 91-81, for his or her tenth consecutive win. 

Lower than a month in the past, the Aces have been under .500, and on Aug. 2 they misplaced by 53 factors to the Minnesota Lynx — the second-largest defeat in league historical past. They have not misplaced since then. Their 10-game profitable streak, which is the Aces’ longest since they moved to Las Vegas and the longest within the WNBA since 2021, has vaulted them into third place at 24-14. 

As a substitute of worrying about hanging on to one of many ultimate playoff spots, the Aces at the moment are proper within the combine for the No. 2 seed and are within the driver’s seat to earn homecourt benefit within the first spherical of the playoffs. 

Earlier within the profitable streak, we examined a few of the underlying causes behind the Aces’ turnaround. The primary driver of their success, although, is similar because it at all times has been: A’ja Wilson. The three-time MVP continued her late-season push to win the glory for a report fourth time on Saturday with one other sensible efficiency. 

Wilson poured in 36 factors on 14 of twenty-two from the sphere, and added 13 rebounds, two steals and two blocks. She now has 10 30-point video games this season and has turn into the primary participant in WNBA historical past with a number of seasons of 10-plus 30-point video games. For her profession, Wilson is as much as 34 30-point video games, which is second solely to the league’s all-time main scorer, Diana Taurasi. 

Most 30-point video games in WNBA historical past

In the course of the Aces’ 10-game profitable streak, Wilson has scored 30 factors 5 occasions and is averaging 27.3 factors, 13.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.8 blocks. For the season, she’s as much as 23.2 factors per recreation, and is true on the heels of Napheesa Collier (23.5 factors) for the scoring title. 

Wilson has additionally closed the hole on Collier within the MVP race. Collier was cruising to her first MVP award till she injured her ankle within the Lynx’s historic win over the Aces initially of the month. She hasn’t performed since then, and within the meantime Wilson’s particular person dominance and the Aces’ 10-game profitable streak has made the MVP race extraordinarily shut. Collier stays the betting favourite at -220 per Caesars Sportsbook, however Wilson is now simply +160.