Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner (42) and Las Vegas Aces center Kiah Stokes (41) fight for the ball during the first half of a WNBA basketball game at T-Mobile Arena Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023.
Published Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023 | 12:36 p.m.
Updated Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023 | 2 p.m.
The road to the WNBA Finals will once again go through Las Vegas.
The Aces clinched the No. 1 seed in the playoffs by way of the New York Liberty losing 90-88 to the Washington Mystics on Sunday.
The defending WNBA champions will open their title defense against the Chicago Sky on Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena (7 p.m., ESPN2). The Aces capped off their season with a 100-85 win over the Phoenix Mercury to finish 34-6, the best record in league history.
A'ja Wilson finished with a game-high 36 points, eight rebounds, five steals and three blocks in a strong statement to clinch her second straight MVP award. Kelsey Plum had 30 points, and Chelsea Gray had 21 points and eight assists.
New York trailed 84-74 in the fourth quarter, but rallied to tie it with less than a minute remaining after Breanna Stewart's layup tied it 88-88.
Washington guard Brittney Sykes caught a lob pass off the inbounds with 0.5 seconds left and scored as time expired.
The Aces swept the three-game season series against the Sky; just one of those games were in Las Vegas.
Chicago in Las Vegas were close to nearly meeting in the WNBA Finals last season. The Sky had a 10-point lead over the Connecticut Sun heading into the fourth quarter of Game 5 of the semifinals against the Connecticut Sun, but the Sun outscored Chicago 24-5 in the fourth quarter to win.
The Aces went on to defeat the Sun in four games to capture the first championship in franchise history last September.
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
