League-leading Aces improve to 14-1 with rout of 2nd-place Liberty | CBC Sports

Kelsey Plum scored 18 points and the Las Vegas Aces routed the visiting New York Liberty 98-81 on Thursday night in the first meeting between two of the top teams in the WNBA.

It was the seventh consecutive win for the Aces (14-1), who have been nearly unstoppable this season on offense, averaging nearly 93 points a game. All five of the Aces starters scored in double figures, with A’ja Wilson putting in 16 while Jackie Young and Candace Parker each added 15. Chelsea Gray had 14 points and six assists, including a few highlight reel ones.

The Aces pulled away in the second half to run away with the much-hyped first matchup between the teams who made the biggest moves in the off-season, with the defending champion Aces signing Parker and Alysha Clark. The Liberty added Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Courtney Vandersloot and Kayla Thornton.

The teams came into the game ranked first and second in points per game and both play an unselfish brand of basketball, with the Liberty first in assists and the Aces second.

“If you’re not excited to play these kind of games you better check your pulse and see if you’re a real basketball fan,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said before the game. “They play a brand that I like. It will be difficult to stop. The score won’t be in the 70s. It’s just about making their looks as tough as possible. You can do all right and they still might score.”

The Aces were able to contain the Liberty on offence, contesting nearly every shot. On offence, they jumped out to a strong start behind Plum, who had 13 points in the first quarter as the Aces led 28-22.

New York (10-4) trailed 49-42 at the half, but Las Vegas scored the first 11 points of the third quarter to blow the game open and extended the advantage to 18.

Stewart scored 16 points and Jones added 13 for the Liberty.

It’s been a busy week for New York. The Liberty played an overtime against Washington on Sunday, edged Connecticut on the road on Tuesday before traveling all day Wednesday to get to Las Vegas for the Thursday night’s game.

Mercury beat Fever to snap 6-game skid

Brittney Griner scored 22 points, Diana Taurasi had 17 points and six assists, and the Phoenix Mercury beat the Indiana Fever 85-63 on Thursday night to snap a six-game losing streak.

It was the first win for interim coach Nikki Blue, who took over after Phoenix fired Vanessa Nygaard on Sunday. The Mercury only scored 62 points against Dallas on Tuesday in Blue’s debut.

Brianna Turner added a season-high 11 points for Phoenix (3-11). The Mercury had a season-high 28 assists on 34 made field goals. Sophie Cunningham (concussion evaluation) and Moriah Jefferson (ankle) did not play in the fourth quarter.

Phoenix led 31-23 after its highest-scoring first quarter of the season, and it was 52-35 at the break behind Griner’s 15 points.

Taurasi made a three-pointer on back-to-back possessions late in the third quarter to help the Mercury lead 72-51 entering the fourth.

Kelsey Mitchell scored 15 points for Indiana (5-10), which lost its third straight after back-to-back losses against Las Vegas. NaLyssa Smith had 10 points and nine rebounds, and rookie Aliyah Boston added six points and nine rebounds.