Aces vs. Dream: Chelsea Gray's Jumper With 3.6 Seconds Left Survives Atlanta's 16-0 Run, 85-84

For about six minutes on Sunday afternoon, the defending WNBA champions forgot where the basket was. Las Vegas led 81-64 with more than seven minutes left, the 17,044 who packed State Farm Arena had very little to work with, and this looked like a formality. Then Atlanta scored 16 straight.

Chelsea Gray fixed it. Her 12-foot pull-up with 3.6 seconds left gave the Las Vegas Aces an 85-84 win over the Atlanta Dream, and then she stripped Allisha Gray on the final inbounds play, just so nobody got any ideas. It was an escape act from a team that should have been coasting by the fourth quarter.

Nineteen Up, Then Nothing

The Aces spent three quarters looking like themselves. A 24-23 first quarter gave way to an 11-0 run in the second, behind a trio of threes, and Las Vegas led 51-44 at the half. Chennedy Carter's three-point play made it 73-54 with 3:35 left in the third, the biggest lead of the day.

That was when Atlanta started chipping. The Dream rattled off nine straight to reach 73-63 before Carter's free throws sent it to the fourth at 75-63, and an early Las Vegas burst pushed it to 81-64.

Then came the drought. From that point until the 1:56 mark, the Aces did not score. Allisha Gray got the rally going, Naz Hillmon and rookie Madina Okot kept feeding it, and with 2:16 left Te-Hina Paopao buried a three from the corner off an Angel Reese offensive rebound to make it 81-80. "I was like, 'Oh yeah, I'm down and ready,'" Paopao said. Her personal philosophy is that "corner threes get you paid," and on this one, at least, the check cleared.

A'ja Wilson finally stopped the bleeding with a driving layup. Allisha Gray made two free throws with 59.9 seconds left. Then Jordin Canada stole the ball from Wilson and finished the break with 36.5 seconds left, and Atlanta had an 84-83 lead, its first of the second half. The building, as you might imagine, was enjoying itself.

Zero Points, One Huge Jump Ball

Chelsea Gray missed a short jumper in the lane on the next trip, and for a second it looked like the comeback had actually landed. But Jackie Young and Allisha Gray both grabbed the rebound, and the officials called a jump ball with 8.5 seconds left.

Young, it should be said, was having a nightmare of a shooting day. She went 0-for-12 from the field and 0-for-5 from three, her first scoreless game since 2020, which was her second season in the league. She also won that jump. The tip went to Stephanie Talbot, Talbot got it to Chelsea Gray, and Gray did not miss the second one.

Atlanta still had time, but the final play fell apart. Reese could not get the first inbounds pass in, the Dream used a timeout, Paopao threw it in to Allisha Gray, and Chelsea Gray took it away. "There was just a little bit of confusion because they were playing different positions, and it kind of just short-circuited the play," Dream coach Karl Smesko said.

Stars on Both Sides

Chelsea Gray finished with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, 5-of-8 from three, with six assists and five rebounds. Wilson scored 20, and her 5,844 career points now put her 19th on the WNBA's scoring list, three ahead of her own coach, Becky Hammon (5,841). Carter scored 20 off the bench, NaLyssa Smith went 6-of-7 for 13, and Young still managed seven rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks, which is how you finish plus-6 on a scoreless afternoon.

Atlanta's top scorer was Allisha Gray, who had 25 to go with nine rebounds. Paopao scored a career-high 19. Okot was the revelation, with 14 points and 11 rebounds in just 16 minutes for her second career double-double and a game-best plus-18. Canada had 11 points, five assists and seven steals. Reese had the rough line of the day: nine points on 1-of-8 shooting, eight rebounds and eight turnovers. The Dream played without Rhyne Howard (concussion protocol) and Brionna Jones (knee), while the Aces were missing Dana Evans (leg) and Janiah Barker (concussion protocol).

The Numbers That Mattered

• 16-0: Atlanta's fourth-quarter run, which went from 7:19 down to 2:16. Las Vegas shot 4-of-15 in the period, while the Dream went 7-of-18 and 6-of-9 at the line.
• 25-of-37: The Dream at the line. Twelve misses in a one-point loss is going to bother somebody for a while.
• 10-of-27 vs. 5-of-23: Threes, and a 15-point Aces edge from deep.
• 45-38: Atlanta's edge on the boards, along with an 11-5 edge in fast-break points. The Dream did almost everything you need to do to win a game except make their free throws.
• 19 and 33: The seconds Atlanta spent in the lead, in the second and fourth quarters, according to the Aces.

Four Straight for Las Vegas, a First Loss for Atlanta

The Aces are 4-1 with four straight wins since their 99-66 home loss to Phoenix in the opener, and all four have come on the road. They have also beaten the Dream six in a row, per the team, and they host Los Angeles on Saturday.

The Dream are 2-1, and this was their home opener and their first loss. They had won their first two by erasing deficits, and they very nearly made it three. "We made a run in the fourth, had a chance to win it, and just came up a possession short," Smesko said. Dallas visits Friday.

The Studio Note

Atlanta spent the fourth quarter writing a terrific comeback movie: the big deficit, the rookie off the bench, the corner three, the steal, the lead with 36 seconds left. Then Chelsea Gray showed up in the last reel like a studio note from the people who own the rights. Champions win, change the ending. Bring a jump ball into it if you have to.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press, the Las Vegas Aces and the Atlanta Dream. Postgame quotes from the Atlanta Dream.