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With 3 consecutive wins, A’ja Wilson and Co. are in business again on Saturday. After a great performance in Chicago, the Las Vegas Aces will be taking a trip to the Entertainment & Sports Arena to lock horns against an injury-ridden Washington Mystics. However, some players on the Aces’ roster will be missing out on this upcoming fixture.

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For the relief of Las Vegas fans, A’ja Wilson is expected to be one of the regular starters. It will be her 16th consecutive game this season. However, her supporters went through quite a scare earlier this month when the Aces visited LA for their Commissioner’s Cup encounter.

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The 13,900 people present in the Crypto.com Arena saw her take a nasty fall after colliding with Cameron Brink while attempting a layup in the third quarter. Nonetheless, the tough No.22 didn’t take much time to get herself back on the court. Since then, she has been in superb playing condition. However, that’s not the case for Kiersten Bell.

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The 24-year-old is currently recovering from a lower leg injury. Having only played 1 game this season, she won’t suit up for the franchise on Saturday. There are no other injuries to report for the Aces. Things are worse for their opponents for the night as 4 of the players from their roster can be forced to sit on the sidelines.

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A left high ankle sprain will keep their guard Brittney Sykes out of the rotation till August. Similarly, Karlie Samuelson re-injured the finger on her left hand against the Wings a couple of days earlier, bringing her a similar fate until after the Olympics. Meanwhile, center Shakira Austin is facing some hip issues and according to trusted sources, is not deemed fit to play. Also, rookie Aaliyah Edwards was absent from the Dallas game due to some back complications. Yet, the medical team lists her as probable for Saturday.

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Be that as it may, there are some numbers on the part of A’ja Wilson that indicate the Aces hold the upper hand in the upcoming contest.

Mystics vs Aces: Can the hosts stop the A’ja Wilson juggernaut?

A monumental effort on the part of Wilson resulted in her scoring 31 points in her last gamein Chicago. On top of that, she has gone past the 25-point mark on 12 occasions so far this season. Currently, she is the team’s top performer offensively with a scoring average of 28 p.p.g while shooting 52.4% from the field. A similar story is there on the defensive end as well with a rebounding rate of 11.3 per contest.

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The Mystics are 4-6 in their last 10 games and 3-6 on their home turf overall. Moreover, they are maintaining a team average of 83.2 points to go along with 23.1 assists and 33.6 rebounds. From a defensive standpoint, they average 6.2 steals, and 3.2 blocks per game while conceding 81.7 points. At the same time, the Aces are 9-6 overall and are 4-2 in road games. Their overall numbers reflect an offensive dominance of 87.1 points and 18.8 assists in each game.

While the Aces hold a 70.8% chance of winning the fixture as per ESPN, it would be unfair to rule the Mystics out. Despite their injury woes, they are still a formidable squad. The visitors will still have to perform to the best of their abilities in order to secure a win.

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Stay tuned for more such updates. And to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.

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Written by

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Shahryar Fazal

1,034 Articles

Shahryar Fazal is a senior NBA writer at EssentiallySports. His specialisation lies in his scrupulous Live Coverage of the events like NCAA and WNBA tournaments. A former sportsman himself, Shahryar used to contribute stories for publishing houses like TOI before taking up American sports as his field of interest. From Caitlin Clark to Cameron Brink, Shahryar is always on his toes to break any news involving the bright future of Women’s Basketball. Outside of ES, he loves to hawk the court clashes and lives by an athletic oath of maintaining consistency in life.

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Pragya Vashisth

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