The top two teams in the WNBA collide Tuesday night at Uncasville, Conn.
The Las Vegas Aces and host Connecticut Sun are the only teams with more than four victories. So, not much has changed since these teams met in the 2022 WNBA finals, with the Aces winning.
The teams will have two meetings this week, with a rematch Thursday night on the same court, when the Aces wrap up a four-game road trip.
“I like us in learning mode and in pressure-building situations. It’s nice to get those kinds of tests on the road,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “We’re not where we want to be yet, but we shouldn’t be. It’s a process of building great habits.”
The Sun (6-1) and Aces (6-0) both registered narrow victories Sunday, with Connecticut topping the Dallas Wings 80-74 and Las Vegas rallying to slip past the Indiana Fever, 84-80.
The Aces fell into an early hole, something they don’t want to repeat.
“If we walk into Connecticut and we give up a 28-point first quarter, we’re probably not going to walk out of there with a win,” Hammon said.
Sunday’s result was the closest of the season for the Aces, who had a five-point win Friday night at Atlanta.
The Aces are 6-0 for the first time in franchise history. They hold a 10-game regular-season winning streak, dating to last season.
All of Connecticut’s victories have come by single-digit margins. In five games, the Sun have scored at least 80 points.
But defense tends to be a big topic with the Sun.
“Every team in this league has multiple go-to players on their team and we have to be able to mix up how we play different players at different times,” first-year Connecticut coach Stephanie White said.
DeWanna Bonner has led the team in scoring in three of those games. She’s averaging a team-high 16.0 points per game.
“We know we have a lot of offensive power but if we lock in on defense, I really believe that this team is pretty much unstoppable,” Bonner said.
The Aces will be concentrating on shoring up defensive issues.
“We’ve got to do a better lock-in job on those microwave scorers, those people who demand that kind of attention,” Hammon said.
Forward A’ja Wilson has been the leading scorer for Las Vegas in half of the six games. She averages 20.7 points per game, slightly behind team leader Jackie Young (21.8).
The Aces will want to keep Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas off the free-throw line. She became the franchise’s all-time leader in free-throw scoring in Sunday’s game when she reached 692 made foul shots.
The Sun hold a 32-19 regular-season record all-time against Las Vegas.
–Field Level Media
