Despite a loss to the red-hot Connecticut Sun that moved them out of first place, and a narrow seven-point win over an injury-ridden Atlanta Dream yesterday, the Las Vegas Aces finally secured their playoff spot with three weeks left in the regular season.
Heading into that final stretch, knowing the Aces, it’ll be hard for any obstacle to break their fun-loving spirit that translates from off the court to their game. Led by 2020 MVP A’ja Wilson, who looks to be in the running for the honour once again, the Aces have a pool of talent to play with and their 18-7 record puts them only one game behind the Sun.
Wilson has been their leader on both ends of the floor, not only taking the crown in scoring with a midrange jumper that seems unstoppable, but leading her team on the boards -- especially defensively -- stopping any chance of a second chance point from her opponent.
Wilson recorded a seventh career game with 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists against Atlanta, passing Tamika Catchings for the most games with that stat line in a player's first four seasons. Wilson is currently tied with Brittney Griner, Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones for most double-doubles this season with 13.
“I thank my teammates so much for allowing me to have this game, because bounce-back games can be tougher than the games that you sucked in, so I’m glad I had this game to showcase who I really am,” said Wilson.
Highlights@_ajawilson22 // #ALLIN pic.twitter.com/xfgiXNdR5h
— Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) August 27, 2021
One of the strongest starting lineups in the league, the combination of Wilson, Liz Cambage, Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young and 2020 Sixth Woman of the Year Dearica Hamby are all averaging over 11 points per game, and the Aces are outscoring their opponents by an average of eight points per game with their full-team mentality.
Angel McCoughtry, a key part of Las Vegas’ 2020 success in her first year with the team, suffered an ACL injury before the season started. But even she returned to the floor for 7.9 seconds against Atlanta just to be part of the team culture that Las Vegas emanates – and also to say hello to her former home crowd of 10 years.
The win put the Aces in a spot for a double-bye in the playoffs, but seeding isn’t the concern for Las Vegas – it’s each other.
“I don’t even think we’re playing for seeding right now, we’re just doing us, we had to get some things figured out within our team, and our system, and continue to be Aces, stay within us and have fun doing it,” said Wilson.
“At the end of the day we’re playing for something that’s bigger than us, at the end of the day we’re just going to play us and do us… the rest will figure it out.”
United States's A'Ja Wilson (9) drives past Japan's Himawari Akaho (88) during a women's gold medal basketball game at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021, in Saitama, Japan. (Eric Gay/AP)The gold standard of the Aces goes beyond the WNBA courts, too – Wilson, Gray, Plum and Young all took home gold for team USA at the Tokyo Olympics, with Plum and Young taking home 3x3 gold while Gray and Wilson played for the 5-on-5 team.
But what separates the Aces most is how much fun they have as a cohesive unit that helps make their on-court chemistry even more special – Cambage only arrived in Las Vegas in 2019 after playing in Dallas, and Gray left Los Angeles to sign with the Aces during the off-season before 2021.
The wins don’t always come easy, defence for 40 minutes has been a concern cited in losses, but the family-first attitude has allowed the team to bond in a way many teams envy.
“It’s a learning experience, it’s like a new season for us down the stretch, so we’re going to keep building day by day,” said head coach Bill Laimbeer.
Dancing in the tunnel pre-game, Twitter “fights” between the players, making airlines sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to head coach Bill Laimbeer are all reasons why the Aces are finding so much on-court success – they have fun while doing so. Of course, having a slew of talented players makes the wins come easy, but their bond is undeniable.
Cutting out toxic energy in my life https://t.co/W5MwZOPnwi pic.twitter.com/EbfqcekCIG
— Kelsey Plum (@Kelseyplum10) June 9, 2021
The 2020 season also gave this team something to prove – the Aces were swept in the WNBA Finals by Seattle last year, and though the team was missing Plum, Cambage and Hamby, the roster was still good enough to win, and the disappointing result was fuel to the fire of a revenge tour.
With seven games left in the regular season, the Aces will not only be looking to get the regular-season title back from the Sun, but also to prepare their team for another post-season that could come down to tough series against Connecticut and Seattle that mirror last season.
Regardless of the outcome, the Aces have found chemistry that makes them easy to root for, showcasing that being authentic with themselves and each other as well as their fanbases makes for a judgement-free zone that allows athletes to thrive, and that’s exactly what Las Vegas is doing.
