CHICAGO, IL (August 24, 2024)—The Las Vegas Aces (17-11) remain on the road this Sunday as they travel to Chicago to take on the Sky (11-17) at 9 am PT. The game is being broadcast nationally on CBS.
With Friday’s loss to Minnesota, the Aces fell a full game back of fourth-place Seattle, while Chicago’s loss to Connecticut dropped them a game-and-a-half back of Indiana in seventh place.
| W | L | GB | Home | Road | |
| New York * | 25 | 4 | — | Sept. 8 | |
| Connecticut | 21 | 7 | 3.5 | Sept. 15 | Sept. 6 |
| Minnesota | 21 | 8 | 4.0 | ||
| Seattle | 18 | 10 | 6.5 | Sept. 17 | |
| Las Vegas | 17 | 11 | 7.5 | ||
| Phoenix | 16 | 14 | 9.5 | Sept. 1 | |
| Indiana | 13 | 15 | 11.5 | Sept. 11, 13 | |
| Chicago | 11 | 17 | 13.5 | Sept. 3 | Aug. 25 |
| Atlanta | 10 | 18 | 14.5 | Aug. 30 | |
| Washington | 7 | 22 | 18.0 | ||
| Dallas | 6 | 22 | 18.5 | Sept. 19 | Aug. 27 |
| Los Angeles | 6 | 23 | 19.0 | ||
| * Clinched Playoff Berth |
The Sky won 6 of their last 11 games heading into the Olympic break, and appeared to have a leg up on the competition in securing the 8 seed in the playoffs, leading 9th place Atlanta by 3 games. Then came the July 17 trade that sent second leading scorer, Marina Mabrey, to Connecticut in exchange for veteran guards Moriah Jefferson and Rachel Banham. Draft picks were also included in the deal, but reaction to the trade leaned heavily in the Sun’s favor in the short term, and the Sky have lost 3 of 4 games since. The Dream are now 10-18 following their 80-78 loss to Phoenix Friday evening, and one game back of Chicago.
The Sky entered the season with a number of question marks, as they lost Kahleah Copper as a free agent in the offseason. They began their rebuild with top draft picks Kamilla Cardoso (3rd overall) and Angel Reese (7th). Both are likely shoe-ins for the All-Rookie Team, while Reese is giving Caitlin Clark a run for her money in the race for Rookie of the Year.
The Bayou Barbie broke the WNBA record for consecutive double-doubles earlier in the year with 15 straight, and she is averaging 13.6 points and a league-leading 12.6 rebounds per game on the year. Cardoso is averaging 9.1 points and 7.7 boards while connecting on 51.5 percent of her shots from the floor.
The other key piece to the rebuild was the signing of free agent Chennedy Carter. Every other team in the league was scared off by the 25-year-old’s previous off-the-court challenges, but she has rewarded Chicago by averaging 16.9 points and shooting 50.3 percent from the field.
As a team, the Sky have the 9th most efficient offense (97.7 OER) and the 7th most efficient defense (101.4 DER) on the season, but since the Mabrey trade, those figures have dropped 96.8 on the offensive end, and 106.9 on the defensive end. Since returning from the Olympic break, Chicago is making 41.3 percent of its shots from the field, including 21.6 percent of their 3-pointers.
Las Vegas enters Sunday’s game having lost 4 of their last 5 games, dating back to a 93-85 loss to the Sky on July 16. On the year, their offense ranks second in the league in offensive efficiency (105.6 OER) and 6th in defensive efficiency (100.8 DER). Over the past 5 games, however, those figures are 97.6 OER and 104.6 DER. The Aces net rating of -7.1 over that span is the 4th lowest in the WNBA.
A’ja Wilson continues her assault on the record books leading the league in scoring (26.8 ppg) and blocks (2.64), while ranking 2nd in rebounding (11.7 rpg), 3rd in steals (1.96 spg), and 5th in field goal percentage (.523). Her scoring average would break the WNBA mark for a season (Diana Taurasi, 25.3, 2006). No player in league history has averaged at least 2 steals and 2 blocks in a season. Yolanda Griffith is the only player to have posted a single-season “stocks” average (steals + blocks) of at least 4.50. Wilson’s this season is 4.607—.107 better than Griffith’s 2000 campaign.
The Aces have two additional double-digit scorers in Kelsey Plum (18.0 ppg) and Jackie Young (17.7 ppg) both of whom rank in the top 15 in the league in scoring (9th and 13th, respectively). Young ranks 8th in the WNBA in assists (5.2 apg), while Plum’s 81 made 3-pointers are the 2nd most in the league, and her 4.3 assists per game are 10th in the W.
Tiffany Hayes, acquired early in the season as a free agent, is making her case for the 6th Player of the Year award. In 19 games as a reserve, the 12-year veteran is averaging 9.1 points while connecting on 49.6 percent of her shots from the field and 36.2 percent from 3-point range.
The Aces and Sky split their two previous games this season, and have one more game against one another after Sunday’s contest—September 3 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.