Chelsea Gray Powers Aces to WNBA

Late on Saturday night on CBS, Chelsea Gray stepped to the line and calmly knocked down two free throws with 3.5 seconds remaining to put the Las Vegas Aces up 100-97 over the Minnesota Lynx . That would end up being the final score, as the Aces snapped the Lynx's eight-game winning streak, extended their own winning streak to six games and took possession of first place.

Gray finished the night with 23 points and seven assists, and went 6 of 10 from 3-point range, completing back-to-back 20-point games for the first time since July of 2023 -- months before she broke her foot in that year's Finals. That injury derailed Gray's 2024 season and the Aces' hopes of a threepeat, and though Las Vegas did get back to the mountain top last season, Gray was not always at her best along the way.

Entering this season, it seemed as though Gray, 33, was simply at a different stage of her career. Her play in recent weeks suggests otherwise. For the season, Gray is now averaging 13.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 6.8 assists on 45.9/44.6/94.1 shooting splits. Across the board, those are her best numbers since 2023, and she's tied for fourth in the league in assists and seventh in 3-point shooting.

A'ja Wilson is the Aces' best player and is well on her way to a fifth MVP. But Gray has long been the team's bellwether, and it's no surprise that their winning streak has coincided with some of her best performances in years. Her 29-point outing in their win over the Portland Fire was her highest-scoring game since 2022.

Thanks in large part to Gray, the Aces have tied the record for most consecutive 100-point games (three) and become the first team to do so while shooting at least 50% in every outing. Their offensive rating is up to 113.4, which is not only the best in the league, but on pace to be the best ever, surpassing their 113 mark in 2023 -- again, the regular season before Gray broke her foot.

Thanks to this hot streak, the Aces have overtaken the Lynx and Liberty as the favorites to win the 2026 title (+260, per FanDuel ). If Gray can keep playing at this level, another repeat and a fourth title in five years might be in the cards.

Biggest Movers 2 Aces 5 Wings Rk Teams   Chg Rcrd 1 Aces The Aces outlasted the Lynx Saturday on CBS to cap off a perfect 3-0 week, run their winning streak to six games and take over first place. They also became the first team in WNBA history to score at least 100 points on 50% shooting or better in three consecutive games, and now have the best offensive rating (113.4) in the league. Chelsea Gray's 13.3 points per game are her most since her broken foot in the 2023 Finals, and she's shooting a career-high 44.6% from 3-point range.

2 2 Lynx The Lynx lost a thriller to the Aces, which snapped their eight-game winning streak and dropped them to second place behind Las Vegas. Olivia Miles had a career-high 29 points in that defeat and has scored 20-plus points in three of her last four games to continue her historic rookie campaign. She is now 11th in the league in scoring (and best among rookies) at 18.6 points per game on 53.5/39/91.8 shooting splits.

1 3 Liberty The Liberty won three more times to extend their winning streak to seven games, and Sabrina Ionescu made her long-awaited return from a back issue against the Mystics. Ionescu came off the bench, as did Satou Sablaly for the sixth consecutive game, while Chris DeMarco opted to keep Marine Johannes, Pauline Astier and Leonie Fiebich in the starting lineup around Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones. It will be interesting to see how long that continues.

1 4 Dream The Dream took care of the Sky and Tempo, but lost by 14 to the Liberty and still haven't beaten a team currently in playoff position since May 22. Angel Reese made history in their win over Chicago when she recorded her 57th career double-double in her 75th career game. In WNBA and NBA history, Shaquille O'Neal (63) is the only player with more double-doubles through their first 75 games. 1 5 Valkyries The Valkyries weren't at their best this week, but held on for two crucial wins. Remarkably, they avoided blowing a 15-point lead to the Storm despite shooting 1 of 16 and scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter. That one make came from Janelle Salaun, who tied her career high with 22 points and continues to thrive off the bench. She is averaging a career-high 14.3 points on 40.2% from 3-point range. Only Chennedy Carter (14.4 points) is scoring more off the bench this season. 1 6 Fever Caitlin Clark hit the first game-winner of her WNBA career to beat the Mystics and begin a three-game winning streak for the Fever, who certainly weren't flawless this week, but found a way to win. After starting 1-4 in clutch games -- score within five points in the final five minutes -- the Fever went 3-0 in such contests this week. Clark had the third 30-point, 10-assist game of her career against the Sky; every other player in WNBA history has combined for four such games.

1 7 Wings Paige Bueckers missed the Wings' last-second defeat to the Fire, which capped off a frustrating week for Dallas that also included a blowout loss to the Lynx. Bueckers had a season-high 31 points in a win over the Mercury that was sandwiched between those defeats, and is only day-to-day with an ankle issue, which is great news for the Wings -- especially with the Aces and Valkyries coming up. 5 8 Sparks Kelsey Plum continued her stellar start to the season with a career-high 43 points in an overtime win over the Mercury that featured the first 40-point duel in league history (Kahleah Copper had 41). Plum's huge night gave the Sparks their third win in a row and moved her back above her former teammate A'ja Wilson as the league's top scorer this season. Plum's 26.6 points per game would be the second-highest single-season mark ever.

1 9 Tempo The Tempo were seconds away from winning their fifth game in six tries until Sonia Citron broke their hearts with a stunning buzzer beater. Toronto's frustrating week continued with a blowout loss to the Dream in which Isabelle Harrison was ejected for a Flagrant 2 on Angel Reese. Though still 7-7, the Tempo are now 0-3 against top-four teams, and have lost those games by an average of 22.7 points.

1 10 Fire Emily Engstler hit a free throw with 1.7 seconds left to give the Fire a dramatic victory over the Wings on Saturday and snap their four-game losing streak. The Fire have lost seven times by 15-plus points already, but if they can keep the game close they usually win. They are now a league-best 5-1 in clutch games and are shooting a remarkable 26 of 43 (60.5%) in 28 clutch minutes.

-- 11 Mystics The Mystics had quite the swing of emotions this week. They lost on a last-second shot against the Fever, then beat the Tempo a few days later when Sonia Citron hit an incredible buzzer beater off a jump ball. No. 4 pick Lauren Betts, who has had a frustrating start to her professional career, scored a career-high 18 points in the win over Toronto. She will continue to see increased playing time while Kiki Iriafen remains sidelined with an ankle sprain.

-- 12 Mercury Kahleah Copper broke out of her miserable early season slump in style with a career-high 41 points against the Sparks, but even that wasn't enough to end the Mercury's skid. Phoenix has lost three games in a row to fall to 4-11, which has them four games out of the final playoff spot and is tied for the third-worst record through 15 games in franchise history. It's officially time to wonder if the Mercury will become the first team to miss the playoffs after making the Finals the previous season since they did it in 2008.

-- 13 Sun The Sun were competitive again this week against the Liberty, Tempo and Fever, but dropped all three games to run their losing streak to five. This is the second season in a row that the Sun have started 2-13, which has them in last place and in the history books for the wrong reason. The only other team to have two or fewer wins through the first 15 games in consecutive seasons is the 2011-12 Tulsa Shock. -- 14 Sky The Sky looked significantly more competitive this week after Skylar Diggins called out the team for having a "loser mentality," but they still fell to the Dream and Fever and have now dropped eight of nine since Rickea Jackson's ACL tear. Sydney Taylor's career-high 30-point game against Indiana was a bright spot. Perhaps she can provide a spark for their offense. Their 99.2 offensive rating is better only than the Storm and Sun. -- 15 Storm Three more defeats this week for the Storm, who have now lost eight games in a row, tied for the second-longest losing streak in franchise history. Losing to the Aces, Sparks and Valkyries by a combined 19 points is nothing to be ashamed of, though. Dominique Malonga, Awa Fam and Flau'jae Johnson have now played 40 minutes together over four games; the Storm have a +10.8 net rating with those three on the floor.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/wnba/news/wnba-power-rankings-chelsea-gray-aces-paige-bueckers-wings/)._