ACES PULL AWAY FOR 98-81 VICTORY OVER LIBERTY IN THE FIRST MEETING OF STAR-STUDDED WNBA TEAMS

LAS VEGAS (AP) —

Kelsey Plum scored 18 points and the Las Vegas

Aces routed the New York Liberty 98-81 in the first meeting between two of the top teams in the WNBA.

It was the seventh consecutive win for the Aces (14-1), who have been nearly unstoppable this season on offence, averaging nearly 93 points a game.

All five of the Aces starters scored in double figures, with A’ja Wilson putting in 16 while Jackie Young and Candace Parker each added 15.

Chelsea Gray had 14 points and six assists, including a few highlight reel ones.

The Aces pulled away in the second half to run away with the much-hyped first matchup between the teams who made the biggest moves in the offseason, with the defending champion Aces signing Parker and Alysha Clark. The Liberty added Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Courtney Vandersloot and Kayla Thornton.

New York (10-4) trailed 49-42 at the half, but Las Vegas scored the first 11 points of the third quarter to blow the game open and extended the advantage to 18.

Stewart scored 16 points and Jones added 13 for the Liberty, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.

MERCURY 85, FEVER 63

PHOENIX

(AP) —

Brittney Griner scored 22 points, Diana Taurasi had 17 points and six assists, and Phoenix beat Indiana to snap a six-game losing streak.

It was the first win for interim coach Nikki Blue, who took over after Phoenix fired Vanessa Nygaard

The Mercury only scored 62 points against Dallas on Tuesday in Blue’s debut. Brianna Turner added a season-high 11 points for Phoenix (3-11). The Mercury had a season-high 28 assists on 34 made field goals. Sophie Cunningham (concussion evaluation) and Moriah Jefferson (ankle) did not play in the fourth quarter. Kelsey Mitchell scored 15 points for Indiana (5-10), which lost its third straight after back-to-back losses against Las Vegas.

NaLyssa Smith had 10 points and nine rebounds, and rookie Aliyah Boston added six points and nine rebounds.

LYNX 99, STORM 97 (Overtime) SEATTLE (AP) — Napheesa Collier made a go-ahead jumper with 1.8 seconds left in overtime and Minnesota beat Seattle to spoil Jewell Loyd’s first career 40-point game. After rookie Diamond Miller made a layup to tie it at 97-all with 11.2 seconds left, Minnesota appeared to intentionally foul Loyd — with a foul to give — but the ball bounced off her foot with 7.6 seconds left. Collier faked a handoff to Kayla McBride at the 3-point line and drove the right side of the lane for a step-back shot. Collier finished with 31 points, eight rebounds, six blocks and five assists. It was her second straight 30-point game after scoring 33 in a 104-93 victory over Seattle on Tuesday. McBride and Miller each scored 19 points for Minnesota (6-9). Dorka

Juhasz had 11 points and eight rebounds. Loyd made 15 of 35 field goals and 7 of 8 free throws to finish with 41 points for Seattle (4-11). Sami Whitcomb made five 3-pointers and scored 22 points, and Ezi Magbegor had 16 points and 16 rebounds.

The extension includes a raise on his salary for this coming season to nearly $31 million, and his salary for the four subsequent years will average about $47 million, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team has not announced the signing.

The total value of the deal is about $217 million. ESPN first reported the agreement on Saturday night, and The Sacramento Bee subsequently confirmed it as well.

It was part of a bigspending start to free agency this summer: Counting free agent deals that have been struck, signings of this year’s rookie class and extensions, NBA teams have combined to hand out more than $3 billion in contract value since Friday night. Sabonis would have been in line to hit the free agent market in the summer of 2024, but the Kings ensured that won’t be happening. He’s a huge part of the Kings’ current surge; the team made the playoffs this past season for the first time since 2006 and has the entirety of its starting five — Sabonis, De’Aaron Fox, Kevin Huerter, Harrison Barnes and Keegan Murray — coming back.

Sabonis is a three-time All-Star who averaged 19.1 points and a leaguehigh 12.3 rebounds per game this past season, earning the All-NBA nod for the first time.

Utah was finalizing an extension for guard Jordan Clarkson on Sunday as well, a second person told the AP on condition of anonymity because it had not been signed. It will have a total value of $55 million over the next three years, the person said; Clarkson had opted into a contract that would have paid him $14.3 million this coming season and now will average about $18.3 million over three years.

Clarkson averaged a career-high 20.8 points for the Jazz this past season, and the extension will push his on-court earnings well past $100 million for his career.

Also Sunday:

— Miles Bridges signed his $7.9 million qualifying offer from Charlotte for this coming season, a source told AP after the agreement was first reported by ESPN. Bridges missed all of this past season after he was charged with domestic violence in the summer of 2022. He eventually pleaded no contest and is serving three years of probation. The NBA gave Bridges a 30-game suspension earlier this offseason, but added that because Bridges missed the entirety of 2022-23, 20 of those games are considered already served.

— Eric Gordon agreed to a contract with the Phoenix Suns, a source told AP after the agreement was first reported by The Athletic. Gordon is a career 37% shooter from 3-point range, and is entering his 16th NBA season.