Aces dealt season-ending loss of NaLyssa Smith before facing Tempo

Ahead of the WNBA's FIBA World Cup break, the host Las Vegas Aces welcome in the struggling Toronto Tempo with a key starter sidelined.

Las Vegas (26-13) announced on Thursday afternoon that NaLyssa Smith is out for the remainder of the season due to a left leg injury. Smith went down grabbing her left knee in the Aces' last outing, an 88-78 defeat of this same Toronto bunch last Sunday in Vancouver.

The 6-foot-4 Smith is averaging 11.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, complementing four-time Most Valuable Player A'ja Wilson in the Las Vegas frontcourt.

"You never want to see that happen to anyone," Wilson said after Smith sustained her injury on Sunday. "(Smith) is a soldier."

The Aces look to regroup and continue on a winning trajectory before the layoff. Their win over the Tempo (11-27), which was played in British Columbia as part of Toronto's debut-season tour of Canada, marked the fourth game in the Aces' last six that they held an opponent to fewer than 80 points.

Las Vegas won all four of those contests and dropped the other two during the six-game stretch, giving up more than 90 points in each of the losses.

Pushing the pace offensively may be integral for sputtering Toronto to score a win on Friday, but the Tempo's recent slump of 14 losses in 15 games has come with a severe scoring cold spell.

The recent loss to Las Vegas marked Toronto's ninth time in this 15-game stretch in which the Tempo failed to reach 85 points.

The trend continued on Wednesday in the first of the Tempo's three Western road games before the break, a 90-78 loss to Seattle.

Toronto's offensive woes of late have combined with season-long inefficiencies on defense for the expansion franchise. The Tempo come into Las Vegas allowing a league-worst 93.6 points per game.

A bevy of injuries have contributed to Toronto's troubles, including the absences of 20.8-point per game scorer Marina Mabrey and 18.6-ppg contributor Brittney Sykes over the last four and two games, respectively.

"We've had a lot of injuries, and so different people have to play different roles," Tempo rookie Kiki Rice said following her 24-point effort at Seattle. "(I) appreciate the support of the coaching staff and my teammates to learn through mistakes as a rookie."

--Field Level Media