LOS ANGELES -- In a span of 24 hours, the Las Vegas Aces received their championship rings, suffered a historically bad season-opening loss and then picked up their first win, 105-78 over the Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday.
"I don't like back-to-backs, but this one was kind of nice to just flip the page," Chelsea Gray said.
The Aces wouldn't call Saturday's 33-point loss to the Phoenix Mercury -- the largest margin of defeat by a defending champion in a season opener in WNBA history -- extra motivation for the second game of their back-to-back in L.A. It was more of a much-needed palate cleanser.
And without having any time to dissect the loss in a film session or team meeting, their turnaround game was fueled by basketball instinct and familiarity with each other.
"It plays on our experience and how we have been playing together for a long period of time," Gray said. "It's not like we're doing things on the back-to-back that we haven't done before or talked about. But maybe we are then able to sprinkle in some change without actually having to go through it in a meeting or in practice."
Gray likened it to the playoffs, where there isn't always time to get on the court between games. Learning on the fly, and applying those lessons in real time, is a must.
"So, this was a quicker turnaround than we'd like, but it was a good test for us early," Gray said.
Heading into the game, coach Becky Hammon challenged her starters to set a better tone early, particularly on the defensive end. They answered her challenge, outscoring the Sparks 23-14 in the first period.
In the second, Vegas built as much as a 17-point lead, but that quickly evaporated as the Aces were held to 13 points in the quarter. They led by just one at halftime.
In the locker room, Hammon reminded her players to take care of the ball and be prepared for Los Angeles' blitzes, which she said caused her team to be disrupted.
This is an area of the game plan Hammon would have gone over in practice if she could have. But with no time, she spent halftime writing concepts on the board and hoping the Aces would execute.
"I have a lot of trust built up, especially with that core group," Hammon said. "I trust their feel, I trust their character, I trust their competitiveness. So building that trust, it's there, we just have to reestablish it. ... We can be elite when our communication, and our physicality and trust, is there."
The Aces scored 33 and 30 points, respectively, in the third and fourth quarters. The Sparks didn't reach 20 points in either period.
Five Aces finished in double-figure scoring, led by Chennedy Carter's 22 points off the bench. Jackie Young had 20 points and nine assists, A'ja Wilson had 19 points and two blocks, and Chelsea Gray and NaLyssa Smith contributed 16 and 12 points, respectively.
"There are a lot of conversations and confidence within this group," Gray said. "That's what we fall back on. We fall back on our experience, we fall back on the confidence, the chemistry that we've created over the years."
