3 takeaways from Aces’ win: Evans provides spark against Dream — PHOTOS

Aces coach Becky Hammon smiled on the sideline more often than she has all season during the team’s 87-72 win over the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday at Michelob Ultra Arena.

It was close to the “elusive full 40-minute effort” Hammon has demanded from the group. And it gave the Aces their first three-game winning streak of the season.

“I wouldn’t say 40 minutes,” three-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson said of the quality of the performance. “We had a little slippage, and that ain’t the way to go against a good team like this, but I do think that we probably sustained their punches and their runs better than we ever had with any other team.”

Hammon agreed.

“It was pretty good. We’re marching in the right direction,” she said. “I wasn’t thrilled with how the first quarter went, but they buckled down after that.”

The Aces, after trailing 27-20 at the end of the first quarter, never fell behind again and recorded a season-high 13 steals in the win.

Wilson led the team with 24 points in its first game after the WNBA’s All-Star break, while guard Dana Evans added 14 points off the bench.

Starting guard Jackie Young also recorded 14 points despite being listed as questionable with a groin injury before the matchup.

Allisha Gray had 24 points for the Dream (13-10).

The Aces next visit the Indiana Fever on Thursday to kick off a four-game road trip.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

1. Evans takes over

The Dream, despite their great start, didn’t have an answer for the spark Evans gave the Aces.

She scored nine straight points to start the second quarter to put her team up 29-27. Her hot stretch forced Atlanta to call a full timeout to talk things over.

Hammon said postgame that Evans has always been a scorer, but Tuesday she found a way to save the Aces when they were “kinda floundering offensively.”

“(Hammon) always tells me that no one can stay in front of me. So I just try to have that mindset,” Evans said. “Starting the season, I feel like I was struggling trying to figure out when to attack, when to set the offense up and when to do what. … I feel like I’m in a better state of mind right now.”

2. Wilson gets help

Wilson led the Aces in points and rebounds (12), but her fellow frontcourt players helped her out on both ends of the court.

NaLyssa Smith had five points in the first quarter and finished with 11. She also had two of her team’s steals.

Veteran center Megan Gustafson, who is still getting up to speed after returning from a severe ankle injury, scored six points and held her own defensively against the Dream’s bigs.

“They made it difficult for their posts,” Wilson said of Gustafson and Smith’s defensive efforts. “They were just in the right place at the right time. … So I’m very pleased with how we worked today.”

Wilson added she was thrilled to see Gustafson and Smith adapt after Aces made tweaks to their game plan during their morning shootaround.

“When you have people like that who are ready to rock and roll at the right time, good things happen,” Wilson said.

3. Parker returns

Former Aces player Candace Parker watched the game from a courtside seat right next to the team’s bench.

Parker, a two-time MVP and one of the WNBA’s all-time greats, wore a shirt in honor of point guard Chelsea Gray that said “POINTGAWDDDD” on the front and “GRAY FAN CLUB” on the back.

When asked what prompted her to show up, Parker simply said: “Chelsea Gray. She’s my best friend.” Gray finished with nine points and five assists.

Parker made 18 appearances for the Aces during the 2023 season before undergoing foot surgery in July of that year. She didn’t return, but the team still went on to win its second consecutive WNBA title.

Parker was an active participant in Tuesday’s game, yelling at players on the bench and even joking with Hammon at times.

“She’s just a breath of fresh air for our whole team — our whole organization — when she walks into the building,” Hammon said. “I didn’t find out until right before (the game) that she was gonna be there. But yeah, we were talking about some stuff here and there.”

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.