Las Vegas Aces fans were hoping that the magic of the Olympics Gold that four of their players captured in Paris would carry over to the start of the second half of the WNBA season when they played the New York Liberty Saturday. Fans were also hopeful their Aces would avenge a home loss to the top team in the league from two months ago. Saturday's game didn't exactly go down the way Vegas fans, nor the team wanted it to as the Aces once again lost to New York at Michelob ULTRA Arena, but the loss shouldn't put fans into an emotional tailspin.
Vegas just shot poorly Saturday, going only 36.9% from the field and got crushed on the boards (30-46) like a first timer at a craps table. The bench only contributing ten points from two players (Alysha Clark & Tiffany Hayes with five points each) didn't help. A'ja Wilson did her usual thing with 24 points and 11 rebounds, her sixteenth double-double of the season, but after that it was a bleak offensive day for the Aces. New York was able to hold Las Vegas to twenty points under their season average (87.8 PPG).
After a hot start by the Aces in the first quarter the offense cooled. A big first quarter edge lead by Kelsey Plum's eleven points shrunk to just four points by the end of the opening stanza and the lead was gone by early in the second quarter and Vegas never led again while Plum managed just two points the rest of the game. The Liberty D was also able to neutralize Olympian Jackie Young, holding her to just four points on a dismal 1-8 shooting. Ouch.
As bad as Saturday's game was, Aces fans shouldn't start thinking about walking into the Nevada desert on a post-apocalyptic journey just yet. Las Vegas rebounded Sunday with a home win against the Sparks led by none other than likely MVP A'ja Wilson's seventeenth double-double of the season (34 points, 13 rebounds) in the 87-71 victory.
The Aces still hold the fourth best record in the league and the argument can surely be made that had Chelsea Gray not missed the first month of the season Las Vegas would likely be ahead of Minnesota in the West. One could go even further and say it's likely that if the Aces had Gray all season they could hold the second-best record in the entire league. Here are a few quick reasons Aces fans shouldn't be discouraged by Saturday's loss to the Liberty.
Remaining Schedule
Schedule watching in sports is one of those things that everybody does and most of the time gets burned by at least once, but we're doing it anyway!
The Aces lost to the Chicago Sky just before the Olympic break, a loss that left a bad taste in their mouths. Vegas will get two chances to get rid of that bad taste as they play the Sky twice, including a matchup this Sunday in Chicago. The two teams split their two first half of the season meetings, each team getting a win on the road. Rookie of the Year candidate Angel Reese and her twenty double-doubles and climbing will be a challenge to contend with but Chicago's inconsistent play on the perimeter will bode well for Las Vegas in the matchups.
Aside from Chicago twice, the Aces also have two matchups with Dallas and Indiana, two teams they swept in the first half of the season. Both Dallas and Indiana are improving by the day, but Aces coach Becky Hammon knows how to coach in tough situations. Also remaining on the schedule are games against the gritty yet not-ready-for-primetime Atlanta Dream and a very inconsistent Phoenix Mercury team who just got a shot of added veteran experience in signing Monique Billings after she was released by the Wings. Before facing the aforementioned teams, the Aces have to survive a back-to-back series with the Western Conference leading Minnesota Lynx.
A'ja Wilson
As the entire basketball world is learning, A'ja Wilson is one of the best players on the planet right now. Wilson is leading the league in points per game (27.3) and blocks per game (2.8) while also being top five in rebounds per game (12), steals (2 per game) and field goal percentage (52.6).
Wilson appears to be on a mission to not only win her third WNBA title in a row but avenge losing out on her third WNBA MVP last season to Breanna Stewart. Since her collegiate days, A'ja Wilson has only been phenomenal and that should go a long way in keeping Aces fans confident heading down the stretch.
Championship Roster
This one is easy. The Aces are the first team since the 2001-2002 LA Sparks to go for a three-peat WNBA title. Those Sparks teams fell short, but the Aces are in a good position to do what only the Houston Comets did in the beginning days of the W in winning three titles in a row. Those Comets did one better in winning a miraculously dominant four titles in a row. That's some New York Yankees '30s & '50s stuff right there.
Including Wilson, the Aces have eight players from last year's title roster and seven players from the 2022 championship roster. Additionally, Alysha Clark won two titles with Seattle before coming to Vegas for last season's title run and Chelsea Gray won a title with the Sparks back in 2016. Point being...this roster knows how to win.