Bradenton, FL (August 28, 2020)—The Las Vegas Aces return to the court this Saturday, taking on the New York Liberty at 9 am PT on CBS Sports Network and MyLVTV.

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With less than three weeks remaining in the regular season, jockeying for playoff positions begin in earnest.

The top eight teams in the league advance to the playoffs, and at the moment, the Aces are in second place, a half game back of front-running Seattle. They are among five teams within two games of first, however, and the top two finishers in the regular season are rewarded with a double-bye into the WNBA Semifinals. The first two rounds of the postseason are single-game elimination. The First Round features No. 5 vs. No. 8 and No. 6 vs. No. 7. The Nos. 3 and 4 seeds get byes into the Second Round.

Las Vegas brings a three-game winning streak into the weekend, with victories in 11 of its last 12 games. Their third ranked offense (106.3 OER), is also the most efficient offense ever for a Bill Laimbeer-coached team. The Aces are built from the inside out, leading the W in percentage of points scored inside the arc (.655), and from the free throw line (.224). They also turn the ball over a league-low 16.0 percent of their possessions.

The Liberty are a bit of a hybrid, launching the most three-point field goals in the league at 27.1 per game, and scoring the second highest percentage of their points from beyond the arc (.321), but also scoring the second highest percentage of points from the free throw line (.219). New York scores a league-low 46.0 percent of its points from two-point range, making just 38.4 percent of its shots from the floor, and 29.6 percent from three-point range.

Defensively, the Aces also rank third in the league allowing 96.2 points per 100 possessions. They are the top defensive team on the perimeter, allowing opponents to make just 29.9 percent of their shots from long range, while sending the opposition to the free throw line just 13.7 times per game. Should they maintain that free throws against figure it would be the second lowest in league history (Houston Comets, 13.2, 2003).

New York ranks 10th in the W in defensive efficiency (108.6), allowing opponents to make 47.0 percent of their shots from the field (12th) and 38.9 percent from three-point range (11th). The Liberty do a good job keeping teams off the offensive glass, ranking 5th in the league in defensive rebound percentage (.717), and average the fourth most blocks per game (3.9).

A’ja Wilson continues to put up MVP numbers, averaging 20.3 points (2nd), 8.8 rebounds per game (3rd) and 1.50 blocked shots (3rd). Meanwhile, Angel McCoughtry is reclaiming her spot among the league’s elite after missing last season with an injury. She is posting career bests in field goal percentage (.548), three-point field goal percentage (.455) and free throw percentage (.851). Dearica Hamby is having another Sixth-Woman-of-the-Year campaign, averaging 12.2 points and 6.8 rebounds off the bench, while Kayla McBride is scoring in double figures (11.6) for the seventh straight season.

The Liberty were supposed to be led this year by 2020 overall number one draft pick Sabrina Ionescu, but the NCAA Player of the Year injured her ankle in the third game of the season, and is out for the year. In her stead, Layshia Clarendon leads four New York players in double figure, scoring 12 6 per game. She is joined by Kia Nurse (11.5), Amanda Zahui B (10.7) and Jazmine Jones (10.5).

Las Vegas is 23-27 all-time against the Liberty but has won three straight, and six of the last seven meetings between the clubs. One of those wins came on August 9 of this year as the Aces rallied from a 12-point deficit for a 78-76 victory. Wilson scored a season-high 31 points in the win, including the go-ahead bucket with seven seconds remaining.