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Las Vegas hosts Washington after Wilson's 22-point game

Las Vegas hosts Washington after Wilson's 22-point game

Yahoo4 hours ago

Washington Mystics (7-8, 5-5 Eastern Conference) at Las Vegas Aces (7-7, 3-6 Western Conference)
Las Vegas; Thursday, 10 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Aces -8; over/under is 162.5
BOTTOM LINE: Las Vegas Aces plays the Washington Mystics after A'ja Wilson scored 22 points in the Las Vegas Aces' 85-59 win over the Connecticut Sun.
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The Aces are 5-3 in home games. Las Vegas is sixth in the Western Conference scoring 80.5 points while shooting 40.0% from the field.
The Mystics are 2-5 in road games. Washington is 1-2 in games decided by 10 points or more.
Las Vegas averages 9.4 made 3-pointers per game, 1.1 more made shots than the 8.3 per game Washington allows. Washington averages 5.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.6 fewer made shots on average than the 7.1 per game Las Vegas allows.
The teams meet for the second time this season. The Aces won 75-72 in the last matchup on May 24.
TOP PERFORMERS: Wilson is averaging 21.2 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.1 steals and 2.6 blocks for the Aces. Jackie Young is averaging 18.9 points over the last 10 games.
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Kiki Iriafen is averaging 13.3 points and 8.8 rebounds for the Mystics. Brittney Sykes is averaging 16.6 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Aces: 5-5, averaging 80.5 points, 33.4 rebounds, 16.6 assists, 7.6 steals and 4.4 blocks per game while shooting 41.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 80.9 points per game.
Mystics: 5-5, averaging 78.9 points, 36.4 rebounds, 18.7 assists, 7.7 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 43.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 80.5 points.
INJURIES: Aces: Cheyenne Parker-Tyus: out (personal), Megan Gustafson: out (leg).
Mystics: Georgia Amoore: out for season (acl).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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After a lottery gut punch, the Wizards pivoted, solidly, with first-rounder Tre Johnson
After a lottery gut punch, the Wizards pivoted, solidly, with first-rounder Tre Johnson

New York Times

time15 minutes ago

  • New York Times

After a lottery gut punch, the Wizards pivoted, solidly, with first-rounder Tre Johnson

Every NBA team — every single one — needs a guy who can put the ball in the basket. Every team needs a Jamal Murray. Or a Devin Booker. And, at the top of that food chain, a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Tre Johnson, taken sixth in a draft that started in gut-wrenching fashion for the Washington Wizards six weeks ago at the lottery in Chicago, finally gets Washington back into that space, almost two years to the day since the Wizards traded Bradley Beal. Johnson is the best shooter in the 2025 draft. And he'll be the Wizards' best young two guard since Washington took Beal third in the 2012 draft. That is pretty good triage for the gaping emotional wound of watching their Cooper Flagg/Dylan Harper dreams perish last month. Advertisement And, for a team still hip-deep into a yearslong rebuild, Tre Johnson — who just turned 19 in March — is both a positional and timeline fit for a still-achingly young core group. Illinois wing Will Riley, taken 21st by the Wizards after they moved back from 18 in a trade with the Utah Jazz, is 19. Bub Carrington turns 20 in a few weeks, five days before Bilal Coulibaly turns 21. Alex Sarr is 20. Kyshawn George will be 22 in December. A.J. Johnson, acquired from the Milwaukee Bucks in the Kyle Kuzma deal, is 20. Justin Champagnie, the senior citizen of the group, is 23. (At 26, Corey Kispert qualifies for Medicare.) A lot — a lot — of Wizards fans wanted Ace Bailey at six, or at five, four or three; whatever Washington had to do to get him. I get it. Bailey's a big name and a big talent. And he could well become a superstar in this league. A lot of others wanted the Wiz to stay local and take Maryland's Derik Queen at six. Which, again, I get. Queen can play. You can run an offense through him. But Utah took Bailey with the fifth pick, one spot ahead of Washington. And, at any rate, neither Bailey nor Queen provides what the Wizards say they value most: positional length and defensive flexibility. If Bailey were actually 6-10, as he'd been advertised to be through his one season at Rutgers, that would be different. He would tower over most wings in the league. But he measured 6-7 1/2 at the Chicago combine. That's still good size. But not difference-making. And Queen, to put it charitably, doesn't provide much defensive presence. Tre Johnson is 6-4 3/4, with a 6-10 3/4 wingspan — the same wingspan as 6-8 1/4 guard Egor Demin, taken two picks later in the first round by the Brooklyn Nets. That is very good size and length for a projected NBA two guard. And Johnson fills a needed position for Washington. Until this week, the Wizards didn't have much perimeter backcourt shooting other than Jordan Poole. And Poole is no longer here. (Yes, Kispert plays some two, but ideally, he's a wing.) Now, Washington will have Tre Johnson, and CJ McCollum, a career .397 shooter from deep, at the two. Tre Johnson's checkin' in with our D.C. fam for the first time 📲 — Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) June 26, 2025 'Tre, when you look at how well he shot off the dribble, and as well as off the catch … that's impressive, at his size,' general manager Will Dawkins said after Round 1. 'I think, pound-for-pound, (he's) if not the best shooter, then one of the best shooters in the draft. But that's not his only skill. He's someone that can make plays, and make plays for others.' Advertisement Still, Tre Johnson's not a great defensive player right now. That might be what he was talking about Wednesday night, as he recalled his pre-draft meeting with Washington. Early, and often, Dawkins showed his pick-to-be plays that Johnson, by his own admission, took off in college. 'It was, really, Will just talking to me about the kind of player I want to be,' Johnson said. Washington is getting a knockdown shooter, the SEC's Rookie of the Year and an all-conference selection. At 18 during most of the season, Johnson led a Power 4 conference in scoring (19.9 ppg), shot nearly 40 percent from deep overall and almost 41 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s. That came on high usage (29.3 percent) in Austin, which won't be the case with the Wizards. Also, he will have to get better at putting the ball on the deck. But, post-Poole, the Wizards expect and hope to spray the ball around more. This isn't a diss of Poole. He was the only guy who could go get a bucket last season. And off the swing-swing pass, Johnson should make defenses pay. 'During the workout, we'd throw him in positions, on offense, plays that we run, and see how quickly he picks up on it. And the guy's a sponge. He has a high IQ,' Dawkins said. One can appreciate what Poole did last season in Washington — genuinely. He was a great teammate. He was a much more efficient player on offense. He shot a very good percentage, considering he was the one guy on the team who could get his own shot, and every opponent knew it. He gave much better and more consistent effort on defense. But the Wizards needed to move him. That they were able to do so and take two expiring contracts back in McCollum and Kelly Olynyk was an especially deft work of future cap management. The reasoning is simple. Washington can't depend, anymore, on ping-pong balls. Advertisement Its quickest path to rebuilding the roster, it hoped, would be taking top-three picks in 2025 and 2026. The first part of that plan went up in flames. The Wizards certainly are planning to be a bottom-eight team in 2025-26, to keep their first-round pick. But they can't count, anymore, on hoping that they'll be bad enough to get one of AJ Dybantsa or Darryn Peterson or Cameron Boozer, the expected-for-now top three picks in '26. They have to have a Plan B to improve the roster further next year. By moving Poole now, rather than a year from now, they're in position to potentially clear something close to $100 million in cap space next summer. It will almost certainly not be $100 million. But, at minimum, the Wizards will have ample space — in excess of $50 million to $60 million, at least — to take in a bad contract from a team, or teams, that will be looking to get out of second apron hell. The Boston Celtics pulled the trigger this offseason by moving Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday. The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic are among teams that will have similarly hard roster decisions after next season. The Denver Nuggets' governor, Josh Kroenke, even volunteered the unthinkable the other day: discussing how the second apron and unforeseen circumstances could, hypothetically, force the Nuggets to have to trade Nikola Jokić. (Hey, can you resuscitate an entire fan base with just one tank of oxygen?) The Wizards, now, don't have to depend on lottery luck next year. They can hotwire their roster by being able to take an expensive, but talented, player that better teams can no longer afford. But until then, the Wizards will take their lumps. Again. But now, it's all in with the kids. Carrington, Tre Johnson and A.J. Johnson in the backcourt — though McCollum, as long as he's here, certainly will get minutes. George, Coulibaly, Kispert, Champagnie and Riley on the wings — though Khris Middleton, as long as he's here, certainly will get minutes, and would probably start. Sarr will play the middle — though Olynyk, as long as he's here, will get some minutes. And it's time to take the training wheels off. I suspect Marcus Smart will not be on the roster opening night. There just isn't any point, for him or the team, to spend any more time here. And there are too many teams (the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings — and, now, unfortunately, the Indiana Pacers) that could use a veteran floor general. I don't know that a lot of Middleton makes a whole lot of sense, either, but get that he might have to show other teams, at least up until the trade deadline, that he's healthy again. Advertisement For sure, Washington has to find out whether Coulibaly can get through a season without breaking down, and if he can make enough 3s to really be a part of this team's future. Time to see whether Sarr can take a big jump in Year 2. Time to see whether A.J. Johnson can be a real change-of-pace scorer off the bench. But, most importantly, it's time to give Carrington the ball for 30-34 minutes a night and see what you have. Time to see what a Carrington-Tre Johnson backcourt can really do for 24-28 minutes a night, with McCollum filling in at both guard spots and mentoring, something he did to great effect while with the New Orleans Pelicans. This is Washington's backcourt of the future. 'We feel confident where Bub has the ball,' Dawkins said. 'And we want to make sure that we're playing a style where everybody touches it. But he's going to take a step this summer. He's been in the gym, with Ky, with Alex, with Justin, with A.J. These guys have been back since May 1. It's pretty impressive, the work they've been putting in. And they're ready for the challenge and ready for more opportunity.' Dawkins and president of Monumental Basketball Michael Winger have had three drafts to show what they value in young players, and who they think has the kind of upside to take early in the first round. It's time to find out whether they're right.

A'ja Wilson makes history by becoming the fastest player in WNBA history to score 5,000 career points
A'ja Wilson makes history by becoming the fastest player in WNBA history to score 5,000 career points

CNN

time36 minutes ago

  • CNN

A'ja Wilson makes history by becoming the fastest player in WNBA history to score 5,000 career points

Las Vegas Aces superstar A'ja Wilson made history on Wednesday, becoming the fastest player in WNBA history to score 5,000 career points. Wilson needed just seven points heading into the Aces' game against the Connecticut Sun at Michelob ULTRA Arena and hit the mark midway through the second quarter when she made a layup. The three-time league MVP is the 28th player to score 5,000 career points but achieved the feat in just 238 games, the quickest to ever do so. Wilson improves on the previous record set by Breanna Stewart, who hit the mark in 242 games. In scoring 5,000 points at the age of 28 years and 321 days, Wilson is also the second-youngest player to reach that milestone, only behind Lauren Jackson who did it at the age of 28 years and 96 days in her 259th game. In her press conference afterwards, Wilson showed the shoes she wore during the game – inspired by Tiana from the movie 'The Princess and the Frog' – which she had written '5K' and the date on. She said she won't wear the shoes again to remember the achievement. Afterwards, Wilson called etching her name into the history books as a 'truly special moment.' 'It meant a lot to me. It's been a special, special season for us,' Wilson told reporters. 'There's been a lot of ups and downs. But when you can hit a milestone like this in a league like this, I can't let it go unnoticed, so I'm grateful, I'm blessed. 'I'm definitely going to cherish this moment because it's been a lot of fun. But obviously, we've got a lot of work to do.' Wilson's historic achievement came in a typical all-around performance by the center in Las Vegas' 85-59 win over Connecticut on Wednesday. The two-time WNBA champion finished with 22 points, eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocks. She has now hit double-digit points in each of her last 62 regular season games, the seventh longest streak in league history and longest active streak. Wilson finished the game with 5,015 career points – 27th in the WNBA's all-time standings and some way off leader Diana Taurasi, who has 10,646. Her performance on Wednesday also meant she became just the sixth player – as well as the fastest and youngest – to have 5,000 points, 2,000 rebounds, 500 assists, 400 blocked shots and 200 steals in WNBA history. 'Great milestone for her obviously. Impressive,' Aces head coach Becky Hammon told reporters afterwards. 'It's interesting, she gets all these individual numbers and accolades, but I can tell you she'd trade them in a second for winning. 'Win and all that other stuff gets to happen in a happy place because if you score 40 and you lose, that sucks. You can't celebrate that and she's wired like that. She wants to win.' After Wednesday's results, the Aces sit seventh in the WNBA standings with a 7-7 record, five games behind the Minnesota Lynx in first place.

LeBron shares the most egregious travelling violation he has ever committed: "The basketball gods was not on my side"
LeBron shares the most egregious travelling violation he has ever committed: "The basketball gods was not on my side"

Yahoo

time39 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

LeBron shares the most egregious travelling violation he has ever committed: "The basketball gods was not on my side"

LeBron shares the most egregious travelling violation he has ever committed: "The basketball gods was not on my side" originally appeared on Basketball Network. Being the NBA megastar he is, LeBron James has always been a magnet for criticism. One of the most common criticisms thrown at him is his tendency to commit traveling violations on the court. In fact, there have been countless discussions about whether Bron gets away with traveling more often than he should. Advertisement However, in a recent "Mind the Game" episode with Steve Nash, LeBron was candid enough to admit to committing one of his most egregious traveling violations in league history. It happened on February 6, 2017, when he was still playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers. In a tight game against the Washington Wizards, James saw an open lane to the rim and took off for an uncontested layup. However, in his eagerness to get there faster, he inadvertently took a few extra steps before taking off. The "basketball gods" saw what LeBron did With the spotlight on King James at all times, it has been fairly easy for hoop fans to spot when he gets away with traveling. Some have even dubbed it the "LeTravel" move, poking fun at his ability to seemingly glide across the court without ever dribbling the ball. But in a rare moment of justice, the basketball gods intervened to ensure that LeBron was held accountable for his travels. James blew the wide-open layup as he drove toward the rim, with no player between him and the basket. "You know what, the basketball gods were not on my side," he said with a smile. "We were down one. I got the ball in transition, about half court, and I was driving the lane — it's late in the game. I was driving the lane, and I got into the lane, and I traveled like a MFer." Advertisement "I got all the way to the lane and missed the layup. Missed the layup," LeBron admitted. "They did not call the travel. I blew the layup." Fortunately, King James redeemed himself a few moments later as he banked in an improbable triple before the final buzzer to tie the game at 120-all and send the contest to overtime, where they eventually won, 140-135. "Basketball gods stayed with me a little bit," he commented while sharing a laugh with Nash. "Well, I mean, they came back around. Because I'm true to the game. I missed it. If I would have made it, then… you know…" Related: "We only needed one more guy" - Patrick Beverley says the Clippers lost SGA because Kawhi thought he needed more help LeBron is human For all the superhuman feats Bron executes on the floor, his admission about committing traveling violations shows that even the best players in the league are still human and, ultimately, fallible. As a matter of fact, James — who's known for his keen memory — recalled another terrible travel call that went uncalled this past season. Advertisement "I had one this past season, too, in Orlando," he remembered. "That was so bad. Switched my pivot feet. Missed the shot too. No call. Just straight up — pivoting on one, changed to the other." "Terrible. Drove down the lane. I was at the elbow. Pivot foot — oh, I didn't like that one. Switched it. Drove. Shot a floater. Hit the side of the backboard," he concluded. LeBron's critics often call him out for the preferential whistle he usually gets from the officials. But such is life for basketball royalty. Some of the greatest players in history have benefited from favorable calls at times, and James — traveling violations be damned — is no exception. Related: 'How many times does he travel per game?' - Antoine Carr sided with his Finals tormentor in the Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James debate This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 25, 2025, where it first appeared.

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