When the Las Vegas Aces entered their Aug. 6 game against the New York Liberty, the defending WNBA champions were atop the league standings at 24-2 with a commanding lead over the second-place Liberty, then 21-6.
When their fourth meeting is played Monday in Brooklyn (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2/ESPN App), New York hopes to make the race for the top seed tighter with just two weeks left in the regular season.
The Liberty, who won that Aug. 6 game 99-61, remain second in the standings but are No. 1 in ESPN’s WNBA Power Rankings for the second consecutive week. At 27-7, they are slightly closer to the 30-5 Aces. But do they really have time to catch up? New York has six games left (two on the road), while Las Vegas has five (two on the road).
Las Vegas’ loss to New York in the Commissioner’s Cup final on Aug. 15 doesn’t count in the standings, but that started a stretch in which the Aces have gone 3-3 in their past six games. Las Vegas had three total losses in their 30 games prior to that.
Is anything wrong with the Aces? Or is it more about their opponents?
