Minus Hammon, Aces rout Storm

— Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum both scored 23 points, and the Las Vegas Aces opened defense of their WNBA championship with a 10564 win over the Seattle Storm on Saturday.

The rematch of last year’s WNBA semifinal series won by the Aces in four games on their way to the title featured several changes and absences from that playoff series.

Most notable, Las Vegas was without head coach Becky Hammon following her two-game suspension by the league earlier this week following an investigation into former Aces player Dearica Hamby saying she had been bullied and manipulated for being pregnant.

Hammon denied that Hamby was bullied for being pregnant, saying any ill feelings between the two came from Hamby being traded.

But the Aces didn’t miss a beat without their head coach on the sideline. Acting head coach Tyler Marsh just had to decide which combinations of the Aces star-studded roster to call upon, all under the watchful and approving eye of owner Mark Davis looking on from his baseline seat.

Six Aces players finished in double figures. A’ja Wilson had 13 points and 13 rebound, Chelsea Gray scored 14 points and Alysha Clark added 10 off the bench.

Then there was twoSEATTLE time MVP Candace Parker. In her debut with the Aces, Parker added 12 points, five rebounds and three blocks.

Wings 85, Dream 78: Arike Ogunbowale scored 20 of her 27 points as Dallas built a 17-point halftime lead and the Wings beat the Dream in the season opener for both teams. Satou Sabally added 25 points and Natasha Howard had 20 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocks for Dallas. Howard, a three-time WNBA champion and the league’s 2019 defensive player of the year, was acquired in a trade in January.