Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum (10) makes a three-point basket during the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Phoenix Mercury at T-Mobile Arena Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023.
Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023 | 2 a.m.
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When you’ve got a roster featuring some of the all-time great players in the WNBA, and when you are the defending league champions, expectations are going to be high.
And, yet, the Las Vegas Aces haven’t seemed fazed.
They won 16 of their initial 17 games in their title defense season, showing all of those projections of another major championship coming to Las Vegas were spot-on. There have been a few hiccups (especially those games against the New York Liberty) and injuries along the way, but the Aces are still heavy favorites to repeat as a minus-160 betting favorite entering the WNBA playoffs, which begin today with a pair of games on tap.
Top-seeded Las Vegas hosts the Chicago Sky at 7 p.m. today at T-Mobile Arena in a best-of-3 game series to begin the title defense. The other game pits the Minnesota Lynx at the Connecticut Sun. The Liberty will host the Washington Mystics and the Atlanta Dream will visit the Dallas Wings to kick off their series Friday.
“We’re at a point in the season now where it’s like days don’t matter. Games do,” Aces star forward A’ja Wilson said. “We have to be ready for 7 o’clock.”
Make no doubt about it, Game 1 is considered a must-win spot for Las Vegas because of the playoff format. The initial two games are in Las Vegas; if it gets to Game 3, the elimination game would be halfway across the county in Chicago.
And that could be a disaster when considering Las Vegas beat the Sky 94-87 in Chicago on Aug. 24, but trailed by 16 points and had to rally for the win.
“We’ve got to lock in this upcoming game,” Las Vegas guard Kelsey Plum said. “We can’t really focus on anything other than that because people are too good. Forget everything that happened in the regular season. It’s a different season.”
The Aces swept the three-game season series against the Sky, and two of those wins came by double figures (93-80 on June 11, 107-95 on July 25).
It took a valiant effort from the Sky to make the playoffs. They lost point guard Courtney Vandersloot to the Liberty, and two-time MVP Candace Parker to the Aces in the offseason.
Head coach James Wade left 16 games into the season to accept an assistant coach position with the Toronto Raptors. Emre Vatansever took over at 7-9 and went 11-13, outlasting the Los Angeles Sparks to make the postseason.
The Sky are led by a three-guard attack that combined to average nearly 45 points. Leading that attack is three-time All Star Kahleah Copper, who averaged almost 19 points on 45% shooting from the field and shot 41% from 3-point range. Marina Mabrey and Courtney Williams are the two complements to Chicago’s machine.
“They have a couple people that can really get going, so we have to lock in defensively,” Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said. “Last time we played them, we had to put together a hell of a second half to pull that game out. Their guard play is what concerns me most.”
But the Sky’s defense, fourth best in the league last year, will have its hands full trying to stop Wilson, Plum, Jackie Young and reigning Finals MVP Chelsea Gray. The Aces’ core four became the first group of teammates to average at least 15 points a game, leading the charge for the top offense in the league.
The Aces aren’t expected to have Parker to face her former team as she continues to recover from foot surgery. They haven’t seen an offensive dropoff without Parker, averaging 93 points a game in her absence. Parker has not played since July 7.
Wilson said that’s shown the Aces’ resilience through the second half of the season. It’s been a “next woman up” mentality since then. Until further notice, that’ll be the case again. But that might be fine for a team that went 18-4 in its final 22 games.
“Yeah, it was a load we had to take on (without Parker), but I think we just took it to the chin and said, ‘You know, it’s always going to be Aces versus Aces.’ Whoever’s in that locker room, we come together, and we go from there.”
Aces-Sky first round schedule
Game 1 (at T-Mobile Arena): 7 p.m. today, ESPN2
Game 2 (at Michelob Ultra Arena): noon, Sunday, ABC
*Game 3 (at Wintrust Arena, Chicago): Sept. 20, TBD
*if necessary
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
