Aces vs. Sky: NaLyssa Smith's 29 and Chelsea Gray's Late Jumpers Seal the 500th Win in Franchise History

For about three minutes on Friday night, the Las Vegas Aces were watching a comfortable evening turn into a problem. Already without A'ja Wilson for a second straight game, they had led by as many as 14, then stood there as the Chicago Sky scored 12 straight in the fourth and took their first lead of the night. Regulation ended tied at 86. Overtime did not stay close for long.

NaLyssa Smith scored 29 points, Chelsea Gray hit two dagger jumpers in the final minute, and Las Vegas pulled away to beat Chicago 98-90 at T-Mobile Arena. It was the 500th win in franchise history, and it came with the team's four-time MVP sidelined by a right leg issue.

From 14 Up to Three Down

Las Vegas led 22-19 after one and took control late in the second, using an 8-0 burst in the last 1:34 to reach 49-35. Chicago got the final bucket to make it 49-37 at the half and then won the third 27-21 to get within 70-64. The Aces still led 81-72 with 6:03 to go, and the 15,837 in the building had no reason to worry.

Then Chicago got hot. Sydney Taylor's running layup off a Natasha Cloud assist made it 81-79. Cloud's 23-footer, set up by Courtney Vandersloot, put the Sky ahead 82-81. Skylar Diggins finished the 12-0 run with a running layup at 3:07, and the mood in the building changed in a hurry.

Gray got two back at the line, Kamilla Cardoso answered with a layup for 86-83 at 2:12, and Smith split a pair with 56.7 left. Trailing by two, Gray pulled up from 16 feet with about 22 seconds on the clock and tied it. Neither team scored again in regulation, so everybody got five bonus minutes.

Ten Straight and One Very Expensive Review

Diggins opened overtime with a 14-foot pullup to make it 88-86 Sky, and that was the end of the good news for Chicago. Smith tied it with a layup off a Gray feed at 3:06. Jackie Young's running layup at 2:02 gave Las Vegas the lead for good, and Smith's 4-footer made it 92-88 at 1:14.

The next sequence was the whole game. Chicago thought it had scored to make it a two-point game, the Aces challenged with 1:08 left, and the review wiped the basket off the board. Instead of a 92-90 nail-biter, it stayed 92-88, and Gray went to work. She stepped back from the free-throw line for 94-88 with 48 seconds left, then hit from nearly the same spot inside the final 20 seconds for 96-88. That finished 10 straight Las Vegas points. Cloud's layup finally stopped the bleeding, and Young's two free throws made it 98-90.

Smith Fills the Space

With Wilson out, somebody had to own the paint, and Smith took the job: 29 points on 11-of-14 shooting, 7-of-10 at the line, eight rebounds and a plus-15 in 33 minutes. She also scored four of the Aces' first six points in overtime, which is exactly when a team missing its best player needs someone to stop deferring.

Gray was the closer. She finished with 18 points and six assists in 41 minutes, shot only 7-of-17, and still made every shot that mattered, with eight points across the last 2:27 of regulation and overtime. Jewell Loyd's 19 points came with five rebounds and zero turnovers. Young added 16 points, six boards and five assists, and Stephanie Talbot finished plus-30 despite scoring only four points, the kind of number that makes analytics people weep with joy.

The Aces won this inside the arc, which is a funny way to describe a team missing its four-time MVP. Las Vegas went just 4-of-22 from 3 and still shot 51 percent because it hit 31 of its 47 twos, with Gray going 0-for-4 from deep and doing all of her damage inside the arc and at the line.

The Aces won this inside the arc, which is a funny way to describe a team missing its four-time MVP. Las Vegas went just 4-of-22 from 3 and still shot 51 percent because it hit 31 of its 47 twos, with Gray going 0-for-4 from deep and doing all of her damage inside the arc and at the line.

Chicago got 19 from Diggins on 7-of-13 shooting, and Cardoso had 16 points and 10 rebounds with a perfect 8-of-8 at the line, though she also had five turnovers. Cloud posted 15 points and five assists in 34 minutes off the bench, Vandersloot scored 11 with a plus-14, and Azura Stevens added 11 on 4-of-6. Chicago actually won the 3-point battle by nine points and made three more free throws, but it hit only 21 of 45 twos. That, plus 18 turnovers, was the ballgame.

Stats That Matter

• 21-9: The Aces' edge in points off turnovers, with Chicago giving it away 18 times to Las Vegas' 13.
• 4-of-22: Las Vegas from 3. It hardly mattered, since the Aces won the paint 46-40 and shot 51 percent overall.
• 12-4: The overtime score, right after a fourth quarter Chicago had won 22-16.
• 36-12: Chicago's bench advantage. Las Vegas leaned hard on its starters, with Gray, Loyd and Young all playing at least 39 minutes.

What It Means

Las Vegas is 15-5, level with Minnesota, and 6-3 at home. That's also three straight regular-season wins for the Aces, whose June 30 loss in the Commissioner's Cup Championship doesn't count in the standings. They have now beaten Chicago twice in less than a week, after a 107-99 win on June 28. Indiana comes to town on Sunday.

Chicago is 6-14 and 3-7 on the road after a second straight loss, both to this team. They pushed the Aces to overtime without their best stretch lasting long enough to matter, and they have a Tuesday trip to Phoenix next.

The House Collects

It's Vegas, so you know how this story goes. The Sky got hot at the table for a few minutes in the fourth and pushed their chips in. Then overtime arrived, the review went the wrong way and the house collected, same as it ever was on the Strip. Danny Ocean himself could not have scripted a cleaner finish, and he had a whole crew.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press.