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2023 WNBA playoffs: Las Vegas Aces earn No. 1 seed, home-court advantage throughout postseason – CBS Sports
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The defending champion Las Vegas Aces have clinched the No. 1 overall seed and home-court advantage throughout the 2023 WNBA playoffs. It took until the final day to seal the deal, and the Aces’ position was guaranteed when the New York Liberty fell to the Washington Mystics. While they ended up not needing to win their game, the Aces closed in style anyway with a 100-85 victory over the Phoenix Mercury.
This is the second consecutive season that the Aces have secured the No. 1 seed, and they will once again relish the chance to play the majority of their playoff games at home. They went 5-1 at Michelob Ultra Arena in the 2022 postseason en route to their first title in franchise history, and finished 19-1 there this summer, with the only defeat coming to the lottery-bound Los Angeles Sparks on Aug. 19.
Thanks in large part to their dominant form at home, the Aces set a new WNBA single-season wins record with 34. While the league expanded the regular season schedule to a record 40 games this season, it’s worth noting that the Aces surpassed the Phoenix Mercury’s record of 29 wins in 34 games, which was the same amount of games the Mercury played in 2014 when they set that mark.
In addition to finishing with the best record, the Aces led the league in offensive rating (113.0), defensive rating (97.7) and net rating (plus-15.3). The offensive rating they posted was the best in league history, narrowly beating out the 2019 Washington Mystics, and they joined the 1998, 1999 and 200 Houston Comets, 2014 Mercury, 2016 and 2017 Minnesota Lynx and 2020 Seattle Storm as the only teams to lead the league in all three categories.
The Aces will begin their playoff journey with a first-round series against the No. 8 Chicago Sky, who enter the playoffs with an 18-22 record. Game 1 of that series is set for Wednesday night in Las Vegas at 10 p.m. ET.
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