The defending champion Las Vegas Aces started the 2023 season on a dominant roll, winning three of their first four games by 20-plus points before eventually running their record to 7-0 — tied for the seventh best start to a season in league history. That streak came to a thudding halt on Thursday when they were crushed by the Connecticut Sun, 94-77, in the second Finals rematch between the teams in three days.
How were the Sun able to hand the Aces their first loss of the season and move to 7-2 in the process? Easy, they got a historic scoring performance from veteran forward DeWanna Bonner, who poured in a career-high and franchise-record 41 points on 16-of-23 from the field.
Bonner, who once won a record-three consecutive Sixth Player of the Year awards from 2009-11, has long been one of the most consistent scorers in the league. Earlier this season she moved into 11th place on the all-time scoring list, and will join the top-10 at some point this summer; among active players, only Candace Parker and Diana Taurasi have scored more points than her.
Even for her, though, this effort was special. So much so that it’s worth taking a look at where it ranks among the best scoring outings of all-time –…
