Aces open playoff run with seventeenth straight victory – ESPN

Watch the Sport Highlights from Las Vegas Aces vs. Seattle Storm, 09/14/2025 (1:09)
LAS VEGAS — The Aces gained their seventeenth consecutive sport Sunday, opening their WNBA playoff run with a 102-77 victory over the Seattle Storm. Another win will tie the league file and put Las Vegas into the WNBA semifinals for the seventh season in a row. But it surely’s one other quantity which means essentially the most to the Aces.
“It is the primary to 9 wins, in order that’s how we wish to method it,” Aces coach Becky Hammon stated of what it should take for Las Vegas to win its third WNBA championship.
“You guys have fun this greater than we do,” Aces star A’ja Wilson stated of the streak. “The streak stopped within the common season.”
In Wilson’s thoughts, the streak is of restricted significance. She’s too busy dominating the current to consider that. The file of 18 straight wins was set by the 2001 Los Angeles Sparks, who gained the WNBA title that yr and had been led by Lisa Leslie.
Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, Lauren Jackson and Wilson are the one gamers to win the WNBA MVP 3 times. Wilson, who might win MVP No. 4 this season, had 29 factors, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists and a couple of blocks Sunday.
It was Wilson’s eleventh consecutive playoff sport with not less than 15 factors and 5 rebounds, tying Leslie for the second-longest such streak in league historical past, in accordance with ESPN Analysis.
Wilson additionally moved into tenth place on the WNBA’s profession playoff scoring record. She has 878 factors in 44 postseason video games. She might go Corridor of Famer Seimone Augustus (901 factors) in Sport 2 of this best-of-three sequence Tuesday in Seattle (ESPN, 9:30 p.m. ET).
Wilson was dominant Sunday, however so had been her teammates. Jackie Young had 18 factors, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. NaLyssa Smith, who was acquired by the Aces on June 30, had 11 factors, 9 rebounds and a couple of blocks and contributed to a defensive effort that annoyed the Storm all sport.
The Aces’ bench scored 34 factors, led by Jewell Loyd‘s 14. After hitting a WNBA regular-season file 22 3-pointers of their finale final Thursday, the Aces made 14 on Sunday. Las Vegas is 7-0 in first-round playoff video games since Hammon took over as coach in 2022, when the Aces gained their first WNBA title.
The Aces led 45-25 at halftime, because the Storm tied the franchise file for fewest factors in a playoff half. Seattle performed a bit higher within the second half however nonetheless misplaced floor.
To increase this sequence, the Storm need to snap the Aces’ momentum, which has been constructing since their profitable streak started Aug. 3. Enjoying Sport 2 in Seattle ought to assist. Below final season’s playoff format, which gave the upper seed the primary two video games at dwelling, the Storm had been swept in Las Vegas. However taking part in in Seattle is not a assured treatment for the Storm, who had been 10-12 at dwelling — the worst dwelling file of the eight playoff groups.
“Our followers deserve for us to play effectively,” Seattle’s Nneka Ogwumike stated. “We’ve to determine the way to do it, it doesn’t matter what. That is going to be the check on Tuesday.”

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