Bradenton, FL (September 4, 2020)—With five games remaining on the Aces’ 2020 regular season schedule, Las Vegas finds itself in the driver’s seat with regards to clinching the WNBA’s number one seed in the playoffs.

Although the Aces (13-4) are tied for second place at the moment with Los Angeles (13-4), one game behind the Seattle Storm (14-3), they own the tiebreaker against both teams, and play them both on the final weekend of the season. If Las Vegas runs the table to close out the season, the Aces would finish ahead of both the Sparks and the Storm regardless of the outcome of any other games.

Of course, the most important step on any journey is the first one, and Las Vegas must first contend with the resurgent Atlanta Dream (5-13) this Saturday at 6 pm ET/3 PM PT on MyLVTV.

(View Game Notes)

Atlanta won two of its first three games to start the season, but fell on hard times shortly thereafter dropping 10 straight. They are 3-2 since then, with their last three losses coming against Minnesota once (88-79), and Los Angeles twice (84-79, and 93-85 in overtime).

Dream rookie Chennedy Carter emerged as the top contender for the league’s Rookie of the Year Award once New York’s Sabrina Ionescu injured herself in the third game of the season. Unfortunately, Carter injured her ankle in mid-August, and was forced to miss six games. Since returning, the Texas A&M grad picked up right where she left off, scoring 26 and 22 in back to back games against Los Angeles and Indiana, but she was held just nine in the team’s most recent win vs. the Liberty. Still, she leads the Dream in scoring, averaging 16.2 points per game.

In her stead, Betnijah Laney, Courtney Williams and Elizabeth Williams have held down the fort on offense, averaging 16.2, 14.4 and 10.4 points per game respectively.

Despite their efforts, though, Atlanta has the third least efficient offense in the WNBA (97.9 points per 100 possessions). The Dream shoot the ball moderately well (44.2 FG%, 7th; 35.6 3G%, 5th), and are the fifth best offensive rebounding (.301) team in the league, but they are also 10th in free throw attempt rate (.230), and ninth in turnover percentage (.196).

Defensively, things aren’t much better for Atlanta, where they are allowing 107.8 points per 100 possessions. The Dream are last in the W in defensive rebound percentage (.692), aand 10th in turnover percentage (.174). In more traditional statistics, they are ninth in opponent field goal percentage (.454), and sixth in opponent three-point field goal percentage (.356). Teams take an average of 23.2 threes per game against Atlanta, which is the third most in the league.

Las Vegas ranks second in the WNBA in both offensive (106.4) and defensive efficiency (96.5) this year. A’ja Wilson continue to compile an MVP-caliber season averaging 20.3 points (2nd in the W), 8.5 rebounds (6th) and 1.76 blocked shots per game (4th).

Meanwhile, Dearica Hamby is putting the finishing touches on a potential second Sixth Woman of the Year campaign. She has come off the bench in all 17 games this year, and is averaging 13.3 points (23rd), 7.3 rebounds (14th), and 1.82 steals per game (5th), while connecting on 55,1 percent of her shots from the field (4th), and 48.1 percent from long distance (3rd).

Jackie Young has made great strides in her sophomore season, recording back-to-back 20-point games against Phoenix and Connecticut. That upped her scoring average to 10.5 points per game.

Angel McCoughtry is enjoying her most efficient season as a pro with career highs in field goal percentage (.517), three-point field goal percentage (.423) and free throw percentage (.863).

The Aces make their living inside the paint and at the free throw line, ranking first and second in the league in percentage of points scored in both areas (.657 & .214). They also turn the ball over less often than any team in the W (.155). Defensively, Las Vegas is the top rebounding team (.737) in the association, and second best in the league in opponent field goal percentage (.430) and three-point field goal percentage (.307).

The Aces are 13-16 all-time against the Dream, and have won three of the last four meetings between the clubs.