LAS VEGAS — The Las Vegas Aces have to be really careful. Doubt is knocking at their door. The question is whether they will answer.
Over the first two months of the season, they appeared dominant. Seven consecutive wins before their first loss, nine more victories before their second. And then, with a 24-2 record, they traveled to New York to face the Liberty and were walloped by 38 points, a margin that doubled the combined total of their previous two defeats.
While some attempted to write it off as a blip on their season-long radar of excellence, we now know it was more than that because it happened again Tuesday night in the Commissioner’s Cup championship. They cut the margin in half this time, falling 82-63 to the Liberty in front of 8,967 in Michelob ULTRA Arena, but in some respects this defeat was worse than what transpired on Aug. 6.
Prideful teams don’t like losing any game, let alone one by 38 to a club that is considered the chief threat to the WNBA title you won the previous season. And they definitely don’t like losing to that same team nine days later on their home court when everyone is expecting them to get payback.
Tuesday’s game didn’t count in the standings, but it was important for the Aces for both financial and psychological reasons. The…
