MINNEAPOLIS (Aug. 7, 2026) – The Las Vegas Aces (22-9) are set to take on Minnesota (25-7) and New York (19-13) in a pair of back-to-back road games this weekend. First up are the Lynx on Saturday in a 10 a.m. (all times listed are PDT) contest on CBS, while Sunday’s tip is 9:30 a.m. on ABC.

Game Notes v1 | Player Game-by-Game Statistics

Milestone Watch:

Birthday Twins: NaLyssa Smith and A’ja Wilson will celebrate their birthdays on Saturday!! Smith is turning 26 and Wilson 30.
Wilson needs 9 points to reach 6,500 and join Candace Parker as the only two players in league history with at least 6,500 points, 2,500 rebounds, 500 assists, 500 blocks and 300 steals.
With 3,969 career points, Jackie Young needs just 31 to become the 27^th W player with at least 4,000 points and 1,000 assists. Having played in 274 career games, she will eclipse Sheryl Swoopes (312 games) as the 7^th-fastest to the double milestone.
16 Jewell Loyd (6,262) needs 2 points to pass Lisa Leslie (6,263) for the No. 15 spot on the W’s all-time list.
18 Loyd (2,086) needs 5 made field goals to pass Lauren Jackson (2,090) and move to No. 17 on the list.
Chelsea Gray and Loyd are tied at 476 career steals apiece and each need 2 to pass Sophia Young-Malcolm (477) to take over the 28 spot.
29 Young (1,241) needs 6 assists to pass No. 28 Odyssey Sims (1,246) on the W’s all-time list.

No. 2 Las Vegas Aces

Hitting the end of a five-game road trip with back-to-back games, the Aces, who have won 7 of their last 10, are looking to return to Vegas on a positive note.

The Aces are 4-1 since the All-Star break and the lone loss came after a last-second dagger lifted Chicago to an 84-83 win. Three of the wins have come against teams over .500 and in playoff contention, including New York, Atlanta and Indiana.

The Aces are currently ranked No. 1 in the league for assists (22.6 apg), blocked shots (5.1 bpg), fewest blocks against (2.3 bpg) and field goal percentage (.492); No. 3 for 3-point accuracy (.358), offensive rating (113.3) and fewest turnovers (12.2) and No. 5 for rebounds (34.1 rpg) and points in the paint (41.5).

To get past the Aces, teams must contend with the triple threat of Chelsea Gray, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young, who account for 55.5 points, 17 rebounds, 17 assists, 3.6 steals and 2.5 blocks per outing.

Wilson leads the pack with league-highs of 26.6 ppg and 2.0 bpg, while hauling in a league third-best 9.8 rpg. She has produced 10 30-point games, which includes a 45-point outing early in the season, and posted no fewer than 20 points in each of the last 12 games in which she averaged 28.8 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.4 spg and 1.9 bpg.

Young, who is averaging career-highs of 18.0 ppg, 6.8 apg and 92.2% from the line, has stepped up her production over the past 7 games. During that span, which started July 20 in Toronto, Agent Zero averaged 24.3 ppg and 7.7 apg and posted a pair of double-doubles and one triple double, while coming 1 assist shy of an additional 2 dub-dubs.

The Point Gawd, who is averaging 12.7 ppg this season, has dished out no less than 6 assists in all but 4 games this year and is averaging a league fourth-best and career second-best 7.2 apg. Her heroics at the end of regulation and again in overtime against Indiana shows that, despite hitting 1 of 9 from deep the previous 2 games, Gray is never one to be counted out in clutch situations.

Gray (7.2 apg) and Young (6.8 apg) are dishing out a combined average of 14 assists per game. This would be the highest combined assists per game for a duo in a single season in WNBA history. The high entering this season (with a minimum 10 games played together) is 13.5 by Sabrina Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot in 2023. Additionally, no pair of teammates have each averaged 6 or more assists in the same season.

The scorer-assist player duos of A’ja Wilson and Young, followed by Wilson and Gray, take up the top two spots in that category. The Wilson-Young duo has produced 107 assists for 228 points, while the Wilson-Gray duo has tallied 74 assists for 159 points.

Not to be overlooked, NaLyssa Smith adds 12.1 ppg on a league-best 65.7% shooting from the field and recorded 16.3 ppg on 60.5% shooting and 6.3 rpg over the last 3 games, and Jewell Loyd is a steady force off the bench, adding 8.1 ppg.

No. 1 Minnesota Lynx (Aug. 6 @ 10 am on CBS)

The No. 1 and No. 2 team in the WNBA standings will go head-to-head on Aug. 8 in Minneapolis, marking the second of three meetings between the two teams. Minnesota owns the overall regular season series 63-37, but the Aces have won the last 2 meetings and are 10-7 in the Becky Hammon era. Neither team has strung together more than 2 losses in a row this season.

The Lynx had a 10-game winning streak snapped by Los Angeles (12-18) on Thursday night, and the top team in the league will be looking to get back to its winning ways on Saturday.

Led by rookie phenom Olivia Miles’ 19.8 ppg, the Lynx feature five players who boast double-digit scoring averages, including the recently returned Napheesa Collier (18.8 ppg), Kayla McBride (17.7 ppg), Natasha Howard (15.3 ppg) and Courtney Williams (15.2 ppg).

Miles leads the team with 5.8 apg, while Howard grabs a high of 7.7 boards each game.

Minnesota leads the league in 3-point shooting (.388) and was held to 31.4% in its seven losses and poured in 41.1% behind the arc in victories.

It’s no surprise that, in addition to their 3-point accuracy, the Lynx are ranked among the top 5 in nearly all statistical categories. They’re No. 1 in points scored off turnovers (18.8 ppg) and second-chance points (14.5 ppg); No. 2 for scoring (92.4 ppg), rebounding (35.3 rpg) and steals (9.0 spg); No. 3 for blocks (4.7 bpg) and field goal percentage (.483); No. 4 in assists (21.9 apg) and No. 5 in free throw percentage (.809). Ranked No. 2 for both offensive (113.5) and defensive rating (103.0), the Lynx own the best net rating (10.5). Further, Lynx opponents block the second fewest shots (3.3) and the team turns the ball over a league fifth fewest 13.1 times a game.

The Aces are one of the seven teams to claim victories against the Lynx this season, downing them 100-97 on June 13 in Las Vegas. The Aces also are one of four to score at least 100 points against the Lynx, who equal the Aces in hitting the century mark this season with 10 such games.

Last Time Out: The Aces were up by as many as 15 points in the first half and held a 10-point lead midway through the fourth quarter before Minnesota made a near comeback, outscoring the Aces 10-2 to pull within 91-89 with 2 and a half minutes to play. The Lynx moved ahead 94-93 on an and-1 by Miles with 48 seconds remaining and were ahead by 1 again, 97-96, with less than 25 seconds to play, but Las Vegas sealed the win at the line, going 4 of 4, after a pair of missed Minnesota shot attempts. In all, Minnesota held a slim lead for 25 seconds in the first quarter and 8 seconds in the final frame.

Wilson posted 24 points and 10 boards, Gray netted 6 3-pointers for 23 points, Young had 16 points and 10 dimes and Smith scored 15. On the other side, Miles scored a then-career-high 29 points, Howard poured in 22 and grabbed 9 caroms and McBride and Williams had 19 and 17.

No. 7 New York Liberty (Aug. 9 @ 9:30 a.m. on ABC)

New York holds a slim 35-34 edge over Las Vegas in regular season play, which includes a commanding 21-13 record on its home court, and owns a 15-10 overall record, including playoffs, with Hammon on the Aces sideline.

To say New York’s season has been rocky would be an understatement. The Liberty, who lifted the WNBA championship trophy after putting together a 32-8 season in 2024 have struggled in 2026, despite claiming the Commissioner’s Cup title in June. They went on a 3-game skid in late May and then lost 4 in a row in early July at the end of a 2-8 run. However, they have claimed victories in 6 of their past 7 games and will be rested on Sunday after earning a pair of wins over Seattle in Brooklyn Aug. 3 and 5.

Although their record doesn’t necessarily reflect it, the Liberty are still in the top of the league in many statistical categories — they are No. 1 in free throw percentage (.854), No. 2 in defensive rebounds (26.8 rpg), No. 3 in rebounds (34.7 rpg) and made 3s per game (10.2) and No. 4 in scoring (90.1 ppg).

The Aces are 1-1 against the Liberty this season and, playing without Wilson, fell 93-85 to NY in the 2026 Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game, which doesn’t count in league standings.

	W/L	PPG	RPG	APG	BLK	FG%	3FG%	PITP	PTS OFF TOs	FBPS	2^ND PTS
LVA (vs. NYL)	1-1	90.0	29.0	24.0	4.0	.471	.382	41.6	15.8	9.5	10.9
NYL (vs. LVA)	1-1	93.0	34.0	19.5	3.0	.489	.396	37.5	14.1	7.4	12.4

New York is without Leonie Fiebich (10.0 ppg in 14 games), who hasn’t played since July 3, and Satou Sabally (10.4 ppg in 13 games), who is sidelined indefinitely. Without Fiebich and Sabally’s scoring, the Liberty heavily rely on their Big 3 of Breanna Stewart (21.4 ppg), Sabrina Ionescu (16.3 ppg) and Jonquel Jones (14.6 ppg).

Jones scored her first 20-point game in 10 games against Seattle, which included hitting a tying-season-high 4 3s. The Liberty also recently released 2024 WNBA Champion Betnijah Laney-Hamilton from their roster.

The last time Stewart scored less than 10 points was May 29, and since then she’s scored at least 20 points on 13 different outings and at least 25 points in 7 games.

Rookie guard Pauline Astier, who scored 19 points at Las Vegas on June 30, has recorded double figure scoring games in 2 of the last 3 contests and has shot a combined 8 of 9 the last 2.

Last Time(s) Out

The teams first met June 23 in Las Vegas, with New York taking an 87-76 victory after the Aces struggled behind the arc, making 8 of 27 (.296) from deep compared to the Liberty’s 13 of 31 (.419). In the second contest, the Aces fell into a 17-point hole in the third quarter, fought back to take their first lead of the game early in the final frame, but in the end fell short, 93-85, despite a CC title game record 31 points from Young on June 30 in Brooklyn.

The third time was the charm for the Aces, who prevailed 104-99 on July 30 in Las Vegas. Wilson, 33 points and 10 boards, and Young, 29 points and 9 assists, combined for 62 points in the victory. Stewart led the Lib with 26 points and 11 boards. While the score differential was never more than 10 points in the Aces favor, the Aces went ahead with 4 minutes to play in the first quarter and never again trailed.

Key Point of Emphasis

Keep New York off the line. In the three games, the Liberty attempted 70 (23.3 per game) free throws to the Aces 49 (16.3). In the first two bouts specifically, New York shot 45 combined free throws, while Las Vegas shot a total of 22.

Next Up: After this weekend’s slate of games, the Aces return to Las Vegas where they will take on the No. 8 Washington Mystics (17-12) on Aug. 11 and 13 at 7 pm each night. Las Vegas will be looking to exact a bit of revenge after a last-second shot by Gray was off the mark when the Aces fell 100-99 on July 22 in our nation’s capital. Tickets are still available for both games, which are expected to sell out.

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