Aces bounce back from season-opening loss, crush Sparks on road

Becky Hammon wasn’t a fan of playing a back-to-back to open the season, and the Las Vegas Aces coach offered more than one sarcastic thank you to the WNBA for the schedule.

As it turns out, the league might have done the Aces a small favor.

A little more than 24 hours after getting walloped on their home floor in the season opener, the Aces were able to quickly remove the bad taste with a 105-78 win over the host Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.

Chennedy Carter had 22 points off the bench to lead a balanced offensive attack, and Jackie Young finished with 20 points and nine assists for the Aces (1-1).

“Because of the loss, we have an opportunity right there in front of us to kind of flip the page super quick,” Young told reporters. “Even if we had a day in between we would still be looking at it and thinking about it before we play again. So while I don’t like back-to-backs, this one was kind of nice to flip the page and play again.”

The Aces struggled defensively in a 99-66 loss to the Phoenix Mercury on Saturday in the season opener but showed more chemistry and energy on that end of the floor against Los Angeles.

Stephanie Talbot set the tone on the first defensive possession for the Aces, drawing a charging foul against Dearica Hamby. The Aces held the Sparks to 37.2 percent shooting from the floor (29-for-78) and forced 19 turnovers.

Talbot had three of the Aces’ 11 steals, while Carter also used her quickness to disrupt the Sparks’ flow on offense.

“Holding that team in the teens three out of four quarters is hard to do,” Hammon said. “They are an explosive team offensively. I was very pleased with our lock-in factor. They did a lot of right tonight, so I was happy to see that.”

The Aces closed the first quarter on a 14-0 run to go up 29-14 and led by as many as 16 points early in the second quarter before Los Angeles answered.

Nneka Ogwumike buried a 3-pointer with 58 seconds left in the first half as part of a 13-3 Sparks run, and the Aces went to halftime leading 42-41.

But the Aces pulled away in the third quarter, making 14 of 19 shots from the floor while outscoring Los Angeles 33-18. A’ja Wilson’s layup put the Aces up 63-51, and Carter’s 3-pointer extended the lead to 71-55 with 1:48 left in the third.

The Aces led by as many as 32 points in the fourth quarter.

“I think I’m grasping the team,” Carter said. “The girls are amazing. They’re nurturing and they’ve allowed me to come in and be me. So it’s made the process so much more comfortable for me. … It’s been easy to just come in and flow.”

Carter, who did not play in the WNBA last season and signed with the Aces last month, finished 9 of 13 from the field. After taking an elbow to the face in the second quarter from Los Angeles’ Ariel Atkins, Carter helped turn the game in the Aces’ favor after halftime.

She scored 16 of her points in the second half and showed her explosiveness repeatedly beating her defender off the dribble.

“She’s only been here about two minutes and so she’s still learning our system,” Hammon said. “I thought she was great tonight. On both sides of the ball, I thought she brought a lot of energy.”

Wilson finished with 19 points, and Chelsea Gray scored 16 as the Aces shot 62.3 percent from the floor. NaLyssa Smith notched 12 points and six rebounds along with two of the Aces’ 10 blocked shots.

Kierstan Bell was the only Aces player who didn’t score.

Kelsey Plum led Los Angeles with 27 points, and Ogwumike had 19 points and 10 rebounds.

The Aces continue their road trip Wednesday at the Connecticut Sun.