Aces vs. Fire: Chelsea Gray Ties WNBA Record With Nine 3-Pointers, A'ja Wilson Scores 32 in 105-89 Win

Portland, as a team, made eight 3-pointers on Thursday night. Chelsea Gray made nine.

That's the short version of an evening at the Moda Center in which Gray tied a WNBA record with those nine 3s, A'ja Wilson poured in 32 points and the Las Vegas Aces pulled away from the Portland Fire for a 105-89 win, their fifth straight. Gray's last one, inside the final three minutes, made it 101-86 and gave a crowd of 13,178 a look at something that had happened only five times before in league history.

Eleven Lead Changes, Then Nothing

The first half was a real fight. There were 11 lead changes and 10 ties, every one of them before the break, and Portland took a 28-27 edge out of the first quarter by shooting 13-of-20 from the field and not committing a single turnover. Las Vegas stayed close with its jumpers and got to the line constantly, finishing the half 14-of-16 on free throws and 8-of-13 from deep. Gray accounted for six of those 3s and 18 points before intermission. NaLyssa Smith put Las Vegas ahead 52-50 with under a minute left, and the Aces tacked on four more to lead 56-50 at the break. The one blemish was nine Las Vegas turnovers that became 13 Portland points. The Aces cut that to five giveaways and three points after halftime, and the game tilted with it.

Then Wilson took the third quarter personally. She scored 14 of the Aces' first 16 points after the break, the lead hit 70-54 on a 9-0 run, and it was 72-60 with 4:48 left in the period. The Aces got to 78-65, and it looked like the night was headed for a quiet ending.

Portland refused to cooperate. A 9-0 Fire run that spilled into the fourth made it 78-74 with 9:27 to play, and this was suddenly a game again.

The Turning Point: Let Her Cook

The comeback lasted about as long as it took Las Vegas to get annoyed. From 78-74, the Aces outscored the Fire 17-5, with a 10-0 stretch taking them from 85-79 to 95-79. Wilson scored at 4:21, and Gray's eighth 3 of the night came six seconds later off a Jackie Young pass. Game over, though Portland kept swinging. Megan DiLeo hit a 3, Emily Engstler made two free throws, and it was 95-84 before Stephanie Talbot answered from deep.

Then came No. 9, a number only four other players had ever reached in a game. Young found Gray again from 25 feet, the shot dropped, and the record book had one more name in it. The Fire scored only once more, on a Sarah Ashlee Barker 3, and Young closed things with two late buckets of her own.

Gray, Wilson and the Rest of the Damage

Gray's line is a strange and beautiful thing: 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting, 9-of-13 from 3, zero free throws. She made exactly one 2-pointer all night. Both the 29 and the nine were personal bests for the season, and nine was a career high. The Aces' notes say she's the fifth player in league history to hit that number in a game, a club that already included her teammate Jewell Loyd. This was only the seventh game of Gray's career with five or more 3s, which makes the whole thing even funnier. She made six in the first half, none in the third, and three more in the fourth, like someone who stepped out for a snack and came back to finish the job.

Wilson was the engine underneath all of it. She had 32 on 10-of-20 shooting, went 11-of-13 at the line and added five rebounds, four assists and two blocks. That's two straight games with at least 30 after her 34 against Seattle on Monday. She also climbed to No. 16 in career scoring and No. 14 in career rebounds in WNBA history on the same night, and the Aces' notes have her at a league-high 10 straight games with at least 20 points.

Young gave Las Vegas 18 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, including a career-high six on the offensive glass. Smith had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Talbot chipped in eight points and a season-high 10 boards.

Portland actually shot better than Las Vegas, 53% to 50%. Carla Leite led the Fire with 18 points and eight assists without a turnover, DiLeo had 17 on 7-of-13 shooting, Barker scored 14 and Bridget Carleton added 13. Teja Oblak gave them nine points and six assists off the bench. They just couldn't keep the Aces off the glass, and that turned out to be fatal.

Stats That Matter

• 17 to 1: Offensive rebounds. That is not a typo.
• 28 to 2: Second-chance points, the direct result of the number above. The Aces had a season high and the Fire had a season low.
• 14-of-28 vs. 8-of-26: From 3-point range, an 18-point swing in a 16-point game.
• 54 to 32: Portland's edge in the paint, and proof that one good stat can't save you from the other four.
• 99 of 105: Points scored by the Las Vegas starting five.

What It Means

Las Vegas is 9-3, an absurd 7-1 on the road, and 4-0 in Commissioner's Cup play. Minnesota comes to town on Saturday, which is about as tough a test as a five-game winning streak could ask for.

Portland is 6-8 and 4-5 at home, with four straight losses and an 0-4 mark in the Cup. The Fire stay home to face Dallas on Saturday, and somebody should probably spend Friday working on box-outs.

Heating Up

Anyone who grew up on NBA Jam knows what comes after a few straight makes. Gray spent Thursday doing the real-life version in the home of a team called the Fire, a joke only a box score could write.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press and the Las Vegas Aces' recap.