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The Las Vegas Aces bounced back on Wednesday night with a dramatic 78-73 win over the Seattle Storm in Game 2 to even their semi-final series at 1-1. After appearing to pull away at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Aces withstood a late charge from the Storm to hang for a much-needed victory. 

It would perhaps be more accurate, however, to say that A'ja Wilson bounced back and beat Breanna Stewart. The game was, for all intents and purposes, a one-on-one duel between the league's two best players and primary MVP candidates -- the type of showdown we dream of but rarely get to see. In the process, they became the first pair of players to each record at least 30 points, five rebounds and three blocks in a playoff game. 

"That's what grows the game. Everyone loves a good matchup," Wilson said. "Everyone loves to be like, 'Oh, what's going to happen here?' I think that's what draws fans and attention to us. When you look at the NBA, when you look at football, anything, there's always a good matchup that everyone's tuned into no matter what."

Wilson, who was held in check by the Storm's smothering defense in Game 1, and finished with just eight points on 3-of-10 from the field, was back to her dominant self. She finished with a playoff career-high 33 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks on 12-of-18 from the field. In addition, she now holds the second highest scoring game in Aces franchise history, second only to her head coach, Becky Hammon, who put up 35 in a game in 2008. 

On the other side, Stewart just kept on ticking. In a performance worthy of winning the scoring title for the first time in her career, she went for 32 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three blocks on 12-of-23 from the field. This was her eighth consecutive playoff game with at least 20 points. 

Wilson and Stewart were so special that even other players were enthralled. 

"I'm watching it during the game," Gray said. "I'm like, 'Stewie just scored; A'ja, what are you about to do?' Those matchups, a lot of attention is on it, and there is a lot of these players are going through with all that pressure to be that spotlight. But it's good for the fans, it's good for the sport and it's good for them. It raises their level of play. They get better by challenging each other."

The only bit of bad news is that this series doesn't resume with Game 3 in Seattle until Sunday, so we'll have to wait to see these two superstars in action again.