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Reuters
Virtually everything went according to plan for the Las Vegas Aces and virtually nothing went according to plan for the Phoenix Mercury.
However, both teams will advance to the postseason and begin their best-of-three first-round playoff series Wednesday night in Las Vegas. The
Ace won his last four games of the regular season, including last Thursday's match against defending his champion Chicago Sky, achieving a league-best record. They played a tiebreaker at Sky, where he beat Seattle 109-100 on Sunday to earn the top seed.
Las Vegas forward Aja Wilson was adamant about winning his MVP award for the second time in three seasons. She is averaging 19.5 points, a career-high 9.4 rebounds and 1.9 blocks.
"She's been solid all year," Ace guard Chelsea Gray said of Wilson. That's what MVPs do.”
Las Vegas thrived under first-year head coach Becky Hammon.
"That trust factor continues to grow," said Hamon. “Once you get it, you get something special.”
Mercury last season she ousted an ace in five games to reach the WNBA Finals. rice field. However, the team was upset in February when star center Britney Griner was detained in a Russian prison and she was being held in custody. Released, stars Diana Taurasi (quads) and Skyler Diggins-Smith (personals) were sidelined in the final week of the regular season.
"They are incredibly resilient," said her first-year coach Vanessa Nygaard. "Every day we were hit with different things, different challenges, different events that happened in every way. Fate was just laughing at us, it felt like most of the year.
"Getting to the playoffs is a big reward, but it's a new season."
Las Vegas won all three regular season meetings, but the team won May 21 Haven't played since.
– Field Level Media
