Liz Cambage scored 43 points as the Dallas Wings clinched the WNBA’s eighth and final playoff berth with a 107-102 victory over the Aces on Friday night in Arlington, Texas.
Sam Gordon
Reporter
Email: sgordon@reviewjournal.com
X: @BySamGordon
Sam Gordon was born and raised in Minneapolis and is back for his second stint with the Review-Journal. He’s covered the NFL, NBA, the Big Ten, the Mountain West and prep sports for various publications during his professional tenure. Gordon, a University of Minnesota graduate, is a basketball junkie who coached high school basketball for three seasons.
Las Vegas and Dallas have 14-18 records and are battling for the WNBA’s final playoff spot, but the Wings are 2-0 against the Aces, so they own the tiebreaker.
The Aces defeated the New York Liberty 85-72 on Wednesday night at Mandalay Bay Events Center to tie the Dallas Wings for the WNBA’s eighth and final playoff spot with two games remaining.
Kelsey Plum, selected No. 1 overall in 2017, has been among the league leaders in 3-point percentage throughout her second pro season and is starting to showcase the scoring that captivated the country during her record-setting college career.
The Aces (13-18) are one game behind the Dallas Wings (14-17) for the No. 8 and final playoff seed as they prepare for what has become their most important game of the season against the New York Liberty on Wednesday.
The Aces snapped a five-game losing streak and preserved the possibility of the postseason with a 92-74 victory over the Indiana Fever on Saturday night before an announced crowd of 5,213.
The Aces still have an outside shot at a WNBA playoff berth despite a five-game losing streak that began immediately after the All-Star break. They’re 2½ games behind the Dallas Wings, who have lost six in a row.
The Aces lost their fifth straight game — 89-73 to the defending WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx — and remain 2½ games behind the Dallas Wings for the final playoff spot with four games left.
Las Vegas has been the mecca of grassroots basketball in July for more than 30 years, hosting several high-profile tournaments at the end of the month that feature the country’s best teams and players.
The Sada family has spent the summer commuting from San Antonio to Las Vegas to watch its beloved San Antonio Stars, who relocated in the fall and became the Aces. They’ve attended 10 of 13 home games.
The Aces must forfeit their WNBA game Friday at the Washington Mystics after deciding not to play because of concerns about their health and safety after almost 26 hours of travel.
The Las Vegas Aces (12-15) are 1.5 games behind the Dallas Wings for the eighth playoff spot with six games to play.
Carolyn Swords, the Aces’ center and team players association representative, knew the club’s decision to cancel Friday’s game against the Washington Mystics could cause consequences from the WNBA.
The Aces spent more than 25 hours trying to get to Washington for their WNBA game against the Mystics, then decided the risk of injury wasn’t worth the potential reward of victory.
The 6-foot-5-inch combo guard has 12 Division I scholarship offers and is concluding the summer with a three-day stint at Houston Rockets star Chris Paul’s Elite Guard Camp, which began Thursday.