Sports
GAME PREVIEW: Aces Rested and Ready to Take on Dallas Wings … – Las Vegas Aces
September 23, 2023
LAS VEGAS (September 23, 2023)—The top seeded Las Vegas Aces, having dispatched the Chicago Sky in a two-game sweep last Sunday, are ready to continue their playoff run tomorrow against the No. 4 seed Dallas Wings in the WNBA Semifinals at Michelob ULTRA Arena (2 pm on ESPN2).
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While this marks the Aces’ fifth-straight WNBA Semifinals, it will be the first for the Wings since the franchise moved to Dallas. Their last appearance in the semis was back in 2009 when the franchise was located in Detroit.
The Aces are led by two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year A’ja Wilson, who won back-to-back honors in 2022 and 2023. She scored a franchise playoff-high 38 points in Game 2 and finished the series with an offensive efficiency rating of 121.7 and defensive rating of 73.3, which rank first and second, respectively among players who averaged more than 15 minutes a game in the First Round.
Wilson paced the Aces against Chicago with 26.0 ppg, 12.0 rpg and 4.0 bpg, while the team received 16.5 ppg from Jackie Young, and 14.5 ppg from Chelsea Gray. WNBA Sixth Player of the Year Alysha Clark came off the bench to contribute 13.5 ppg and Kelsey Plum added 13.0 ppg.
In addition to Wilson’s top OER, Clark ranks second (121.3) and Young fourth (117.6); while Young (72.9), Wilson, Kiah Stokes (73.7), Gray (75.7) and Plum (80.0) are the top 5 most efficient defenders among those who averaged at least 15 minutes in First Round games.
In the First Round, Stokes nearly doubled her season rebounding average (12.5 rpg from 6.6 rpg) after posting her first back-to-back games with double-digit rebounds since 2021, and Gray (8.0 apg from 7.3 apg) and Young (6.0 apg from 3.8 apg) bettered their season assist average.
In their 2-game sweep over Atlanta, the Wings were led by 2023 WNBA Most Improved Player Satou Sabally (22.5 ppg, 5.0 apg, 2.5 spg) and Arike Ogunbowale (22.0 ppg, 7.0 apg, 2.0 spg). Teaira McCowan averaged a double-double of 14.5 ppg and 15.0 rpg.
Despite having just one player, Odyssey Sims, among the top 10 in playoff OER (120.5, 3rd), the Wings had the 2nd-best offensive rating (110.8) in the First Round, just ahead of the Aces (109.8). The Aces are 1st (79.1) and Dallas 2nd (89.1) for defensive efficiency in playoff games.
The Aces went 3-1 against the Wings this season, outscoring Dallas by nearly 10 points per game over the series (93.8 to 84.3 ppg). Plum (23.0 ppg) and Wilson (22.5) both averaged more than 20 points per game, while Gray (19.3) and Young (17.5) joined the duo in posting double-digit scoring averages.
Dallas’ lone win in the regular season series was an 80-78 victory on their home court back on July 7. Las Vegas won the other 3 meetings by ever-increasing margins—89-82 on July 5, 104-91 on July 30, and 104-84 on August 8
The best-of-five series continues at home on Sept. 26 (7 pm PT on ESPN2), before traveling to Dallas for Game 3 on Friday, Sept. 29 (5:30 pm PT on ESPN2). If necessary, Game 4 will be played in Dallas on Oct. 1 and Game 5 in Las Vegas on Oct. 3.
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