Las Vegas Aces vs Toronto Tempo - WNBA Game 39 - 2026

Wilson Climbs the Record Book as Aces Fend Off Tempo 88-78 in Vancouver

The Las Vegas Aces made the trip up to Vancouver and took care of the Toronto Tempo 88-78 on Sunday night, and honestly it never felt as close as a 10-point final might suggest. Las Vegas improved to 26-13 with the win while the Tempo dropped to 11-26. A’ja Wilson led the way with 27 points, and in doing so she quietly passed a couple of names on the league’s all-time single-season scoring list. Jackie Young backed her up with 21, and the two stars combined for 48 of the team’s 88 points. The role players did their part too: Chelsea Gray, Steph Talbot and Mai Yamamoto each poured in 9, with Gray and Wilson handing out 7 assists apiece. Kia Nurse paced a balanced Toronto attack with 19 off the bench, one of five home players in double figures, but the visitors controlled this one from the opening quarter to the final horn. This was the kind of road win that does not always make headlines but quietly tells you plenty about where a team stands in late August.

Game Summary: Las Vegas Aces vs Toronto Tempo

First Quarter

Las Vegas set the tone early without ever fully pulling away. The game featured just three lead changes, and the last one came about four minutes in when NaLyssa Smith muscled home a bucket to make it 10-9. That basket sparked an 8-2 spurt that pushed the Aces out to a 16-11 cushion with four minutes still left on the clock. Toronto would not go quietly, trimming the deficit to two points on three separate occasions, but the Tempo could never quite draw even.

The shooting in this quarter was a treat on both ends. Las Vegas scorched the nets at 62.5% and knocked down 2 of its 3 tries from beyond the arc, while the home side kept pace by hitting 55.6% of its looks. The difference, small as it was, showed up behind the line, where the Tempo went just 2 of 7.

Wilson set the pace for everybody with 9 points to lead all scorers, and Temi Fagbenle answered for the hosts with 8 of her own. It was the type of opening quarter that sets a tone: efficient, unselfish, and just physical enough to establish that the Aces intended to dictate terms. When the horn sounded, the visitors carried a 25-22 edge into the second quarter, a slim lead that reflected just how well both teams were shooting.

Second Quarter

The second quarter was where Las Vegas looked ready to turn this into a rout, and then let Toronto hang around just enough to make it interesting. The Aces methodically stretched the margin to double digits, going up 43-33 with just 64 seconds to play before the break. That is where the quarter got sloppy. Las Vegas sent the Tempo to the free-throw line for a pair, then coughed the ball up twice, and Toronto turned those miscues into four quick points to head to the locker room down only four, 43-39.

What stood out was how democratic the offense was. The Aces spread their 18 second-quarter points across six different players, with nobody scoring more than four. Wilson and Young were happy to let the ball find the open hand, and Gray kept the machine humming without forcing anything. It was the kind of balance that makes a team hard to game-plan against.

The shooting cooled a touch from the first quarter. Las Vegas hit 8 of 16 from the floor, a tidy 50%, but managed just 1 of 4 from deep. The Tempo, for their part, went 5 of 13, good for 38.5%, and 2 of 6 from behind the arc, doing just enough to keep the halftime margin manageable. It was the kind of quarter that keeps a nervous coach honest.

Third Quarter

Halftime did nothing to shake the Aces out of their groove, though it took them a minute to get going. Las Vegas bricked its first four shots of the third quarter, and for a moment it looked like the door might crack open. Instead the Aces slammed it shut, drilling five of their next six for an 11-2 run that blew the lead out to 54-43.

True to the pattern of the night, Toronto clawed back. The Tempo whittled the margin down to five at 62-57 with two and a half minutes to go in the quarter, but Las Vegas answered with the final four points of the period to restore some comfort. Young was the engine here, pouring in a quarter-high 10 points, while Nurse kept the home side within shouting distance with 6 of her own.

The night turned sour. Smith went down with a left knee injury at the 3:15 mark and did not return, a worry worth watching for a team leaning on its frontcourt depth. Even with A’ja Wilson quiet by her standards in the quarter, Las Vegas shot a healthy 52.6% overall, though the three-ball abandoned them at 1 of 7. Toronto managed only 38.9% from the floor but stayed afloat by going 3 of 9 from distance, and the Aces took a 66-57 lead to the fourth.

Fourth Quarter

Whatever suspense remained evaporated in the opening minutes of the fourth. The Aces came out and ripped off a 13-4 run to balloon the lead to 79-61, and from there the margin never shrank back into single digits. Las Vegas had finally landed the knockout blow it had been threatening to land all night.

This was not a pretty quarter, offensively speaking. The Aces posted their worst shooting period of the game at 42.9% and clanged their way to just 1 of 6 from three-point range. It did not matter. The lead was big enough, and the clock was working in their favor, so Las Vegas could afford to trade baskets. Wilson tacked on 9 more points to punctuate her big night, and the Tempo kept firing away, hitting 3 of 5 from deep and shooting 41.2% overall in a quarter that was more about pride than positioning. The starters could see the finish line, and they cruised toward it without ever taking their foot fully off.

Nurse again led the charge for the hosts with 6 points, and Young helped the visitors manage the game down the stretch. When the final horn sounded, the scoreboard read 88-78, a result that felt settled long before it became official. Las Vegas had answered every Toronto push and closed the door for good in the fourth.

Bottom Line

The bottom line is that this was a professional job by a team with its eyes on bigger things. Las Vegas shot above 50% for the 18th time this season, controlled the paint 40-34, and never let a scrappy Toronto side believe it could steal one. The Aces also won the turnover battle, coughing it up just 10 times to the Tempo’s 15, and turned up the pressure with 11 steals to Toronto’s 6. The lone category that got away was the three-point line, where Toronto made twice as many threes, 10 to 5, nowhere near enough to matter.

The real story, as it so often is, was Wilson. Her 27 points pushed her to 935 for the season across 36 games, leaving her 65 shy of a second 1,000-point campaign. She entered seventh on the league’s all-time single-season scoring list at 908 and climbed to fifth in one night, passing her own 2023 mark of 912 and Breanna Stewart‘s 919. It was also Wilson’s 29th 20-point game of the year, nudging her past Tina Charles for second all-time at 191, with only Diana Taurasi and her 259 ahead. A’ja Wilson has now scored in double figures 60 straight games, a league best.

She was not the only one filling the stat sheet. Jackie Young reached 20 points for the 20th time this year and the 77th of her career, and Gray crept within three steals of Becky Hammon on the franchise list at 485, one more milestone within reach.

TOP PERFORMERS

TEAM STATS

Points in the Paint: LVA 40, TOR 34 | Second Chance: LVA 9, TOR 10 | Fast Break: LVA 10, TOR 9 | Off Turnovers: LVA 17, TOR 17 | Bench: LVA 14, TOR 25

Next up: The Aces return home to welcome the Tempo to Las Vegas for the first time, with tip set for 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 28, on ION.

Franchise Sports Media. Las Vegas sports news about Las Vegas Sports teams.

— TQ (@tqthetrojan) for Franchise Sports Media

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