The Las Vegas Aces have already secured their place in the Commissioner’s Cup.
The Aces booked their spot as representatives of the Western Conference with a 92-84 victory over the Dallas Wings on Wednesday afternoon at College Park Center in Dallas for Children’s Day. They are 8-0 in Cup games, a mark the Seattle Storm (4-4) can’t reach.
In the Eastern Conference, the Chicago Sky (9-4, Cup 7-0) can clinch the win this week. The reigning WNBA champions need the Connecticut Sun (10-4, 3-2) to lose to the Atlanta Dream (2-3) on Wednesday in order to clinch a win over Atlanta on Friday.
The second annual Commissioner’s Cup will take place Tuesday, July 26 on Amazon Prime from the arena of the team with the highest winning percentage in the Cup. If there is a tie, a series of tiebreakers will come into play beginning with the head-to-head record. The Aces won the first meeting against the Sky, 83-76, in Chicago and will host them again in Las Vegas on June 21.
Las Vegas (12-2) is the fastest winning team to clinch a spot thus far. They did it on the 40th day of the season and with an unblemished record.
In the first iteration of the mid-season competition, the Connecticut Sun secured the top spot on July 9, 56 days into the season. Connecticut was 8-1 (.889) at the time of closing. The Storm secured his spot later that night going 7-2 (.778) at the time. Seattle won the contest, 79-57, as the first game of the five-week Olympic break.
The hottest aces in the league
The Las Vegas Aces are in the Commissioner’s Cup, where they could earn more than $30,000 each with a win. (Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Kelsey Plum (27 points) and A’ja Wilson (25) combined for 52 points in Wednesday’s victory. Wilson had four of the team’s six blocks. Dearica Hamby had a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds and Chelsea Gray had 16. Jackie Young was the only starter in double figures with eight.
They won despite being outrebounded, 40-33, and shooting 27.3% (6-for-22) from 3-point range. Arike Ogunbowale had 28 points for Dallas and Marina Mabrey returned from health and safety protocols to score 18 off the bench. They combined to shoot 7 of 16 from 3.
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The Aces entered the season with a historic offensive tempo that has cooled, but just barely. In an interview with the Wings broadcast team that aired at halftime, first-year Aces coach Becky Hammon said she had a non-negotiable for the team when she took over.
“When you’re open, shoot,” he recalled telling the team. “And when you’re not, pass it on.”
Their only losses are to the Washington Mystics, 89-76, on May 10 and to the Connecticut Sun, 97-90, on June 2. They are averaging a league-best 90.8 points per game and shooting second-best 36.3%. in 119 triples, a total in the top five.
They host the struggling Minnesota Lynx on Sunday.
What is the Commissioner’s Cup?
The in-season contest launched last season and was instituted as part of the groundbreaking 2020 collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Each team plays 10 games designated as Cup games in the conference. It is the first home game and the first away game that a team plays against the conference opponent during the first half of the season.
The prize pool is $500,000, and players on the winning team earn at least $30,000, more than half of what players on four-year rookie contracts earn in a full season. Players on the losing team will pocket $10,000 each, with the game’s MVP receiving an additional $5,000.
This year the games included activities and activations that encourage long-term active participation in the civic process, including voting. Some organizations received donations for their team’s Cup victories.
Source: sports.yahoo.com