chelsea-gray-usat.png
USA TODAY Sports

Thursday night's showdown between the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty was a regular season game with a postseason feel, so it was fitting that "Playoff Chelsea" made a reappearance. Reigning Finals MVP Chelsea Gray finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to record the second triple-double in franchise history, and lead the Aces to an 88-75 win over their rivals. With the win, the Aces are now four games clear in the race for the No. 1 seed. 

The Commissioner's Cup championship between the two teams on Tuesday didn't count towards the standings, but it was impossible to ignore that the Liberty had crushed the Aces for the second meeting in a row. That put plenty of pressure on the league-leading Aces to deliver a response on Thursday. 

Gray ensured they did just that. As she was for much of their playoff run last season, Gray was the best player on the floor and set the tone for the Aces on the offensive end -- both as a scorer and a facilitator. In total, she either scored or assisted on 47 of the Aces' 88 points, a 53.4% share. 

The veteran point guard orchestrated multiple key stretches in the game. With the Aces up by three in the middle of the second quarter, Gray took over. She led an 18-8 run, scoring or assisting on 11 of those points, as the Aces built a double-digit lead heading into the break. That advantage gave them the cushion they needed to fend off the Liberty in the second half. Towards the end of the fourth quarter, Gray ensured there would be no drama by assisting on four consecutive baskets to put the game away. 

Perhaps even more important, though, was the way she helped unlock A'ja Wilson, who had struggled in the past two games against the Liberty. Wilson had a combined 18 points on 4-of-24 from the field in those two contests; on Thursday, she finished with 21 points on 7-of-13. Gray assisted on five of those baskets. Time and again, Gray got Wilson the ball in good positions, whether that was isolated in the post, cutting towards the basket or off a quick out. 

"I just told her before the game, 'quiet the noise, go play your game,'" Gray said. "She's the best for a reason. Everybody has their time when the ball's not going through the basket, but what she does for us, she draws so much attention on the offensive end, and then she's our backbone in that defense. Even if she's not scoring, she's doing something defensively or she's out there talking, staying with the team. I've always got confidence in 22."

Wilson may be the Aces' MVP candidate, and rightfully so, but Gray is the one who makes everything tick. We saw it consistently en route to their title last season, and we saw it again on Thursday. When she's playing at this level, the Aces are nearly impossible to stop.