On a night where Kelsey Plum scored a career high 40 points the Aces dominated the Lynx from start to finish.

The Las Vegas Aces improve to 17-2 on the season after defeating the Minnesota Lynx 113-89,

Kelsey Plum led the way for the Aces with a career high 40 points, while Jackie Young scored 17, A’ja Wilson added 15. 

Naphessa Collier led the Lynx with 18 points, followed by Diamond Miller with 15 and Kayla McBride with 11 points.

The Aces beat the Lynx by 24 points after defeating them by 21 and 31 points earlier this season.Las Vegas would lead from start to finish, starting the game 7-7 from the field and leading by as much as 26 points. With a victory, the Aces secured a spot in the Commissioner’s Cup game, where they will play either New York or Connecticut.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

All around dominate performance

The Aces were dominant getting it done on the defensive end finishing with 11 blocked shots and 9 steals. After struggling to score down the stretch last game against the Wings the Aces had no trouble scoring this game. The Aces finished the game shooting 59% from the field and 43% from three with 17 three pointers made.

“Sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in or it does not go your way and well take those looks each time” Gray said. “We are not gonna change the way we play on that side of the basketball.”

Hammond added: “Holding a team to 19 points in a quarter is really working hard on that end of the floor. So 19, 23 and 19 super pleased with those numbers.”

Career High 40 points from Kelsey Plum

In her second game back from a non covid illness Kelsey Plum did not miss a beat finishing with a career high 40 points. Plum finished the game getting it done from all over the court shooting 14-18 from the field and 6-9 from three. The 40 point performance is a new Aces franchise record and Plum’s 70% shooting is the highest field goal percentage in a 40 point game in WNBA history.

“It is a joy to see KP just shooting that basketball, it seems like she never misses and I love that for her” Wilson said. “She has put in the work and you can see it.”

Plum added: “Tonight they played a ton of zone and we got really good looks” Plum said. My teammates kept finding me and the ball like coach said was popping and we got stops off our defense and were able to run.”

Aces depth shines

With Candace Parker sitting out with an ankle injury the Aces bench would play be given a bigger role in this game. They were ready to deliver after finishing with zero points last game against Dallas. The bench was lead by Alysha Clark with 11 points, Kierstan Bell with 7 points and Sydney Colson with 5 points.

“Its huge our bench players are huge for us they bring the energy but they are also ready when their name is called” Wilson said. “Thats what us thats what takes you to the next level. For them to come out and perform the way that they did I mean we got big buckets from KB thats someone that is always ready when their name is called.”

The Aces will return back home for a matchup with the Phoenix Mercury Tuesday July 11th with tip off set 7 p.m. PT.