Chelsea Gray shows she's exactly what the Aces have been missing in season debut

Chelsea Gray finally made her season debut Wednesday night and it could not have come at a better time for the Las Vegas Aces. The two-time defending champions had lost four of their last five and fallen to 6-6 on the season. Gray hadn't played since last year's WNBA Finals because of a foot injury but she immediately gave the Aces' offense a boost.

Gray played just 15 minutes off the bench and didn't make a shot from the field, but did put up 5 rebounds and 7 assists. The Aces scored at a rate of 114.7 points per 100 possessions with her on the floor, up from 105.4 across the entire season to that point. They also came away with a 94-83 win over the Seattle Storm, the team that sits immediately above them in the standings.

The Aces offense just works better with Chelsea Gray

Alysha Clark was the primary beneficiary of Gray's playmaking, making baskets on the other end of four of her seven assists, two of which were for 3-pointers. Gray draws so much attention in the pick-and-roll because her ability to drive and shoot off the dribble that her gravity in simple actions can create wide open shots for her teammates.

She also helped set up A'ja Wilson for a pair of easy buckets and their offense just runs with much more urgency and intentionality when she's at the helm, again, even on relatively simple sets.

It's no surprise then that against the Storm, a top-three defense, the Aces posted a 61.9 effective field goal percentage, their best mark of the season, and recorded an assist on 71.4 percent of their made baskets, again one of their best marks of the year.

Gray talked with ESPN after the game about how she felt being back on the court.

"I probably went through every emotion leading up to today. I was a little anxious all day. It's been a long time since I've been out on that court. But the fans were amazing from the time I came out to warm up to the time I checked in the game. It was a rush and a feeling I missed a lot."

She clearly is still working to regain her speed and explosiveness, but having her back in the lineup is a transformative change for the Aces.

They'll be tested again on Friday, in a match-up with the Connecticut Sun, the best team in the WNBA right now. But after that, they have a six-game stretch against some of the teams at the bottom of the standings — the Sky, Mystics, Fever, Mystics, Sparks and Wings — a great chance to get Gray back up to speed and make up some ground in the race for the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.