The Las Vegas Aces will head to the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup championship game for the third time.
The Aces clinched the berth with an 86-76 win over the Mercury in Phoenix on Wednesday night, with A’ja Wilson scoring 33 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in the victory.
Las Vegas will represent the Western Conference against the East’s New York Liberty in the title game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 30.
“It’s kind of good for us to have a chance to compete for a championship midway through the season,” Wilson said. “It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be tough, but I think it also sets us for October. It sets us for the August when we have to really buckle in. So we’ll get a taste of that. Obviously, New York is rocking and rolling doing what they’re doing. So it should be good. It should be fun. The extra game, it just comes with it. I love that.”
The teams, which have combined to win the past four WNBA championships, have had plenty of big-time showdowns in recent years. Las Vegas defeated New York in the 2023 WNBA Finals, and the Liberty beat the Aces for the 2023 Commissioner’s Cup.
“Barclays has been a tough place for us to play the last few years, so it’s going to be a great battle; New York’s playing really well right now,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said.
The Liberty advanced to this year’s final with an 86-64 triumph over the Washington Mystics on Sunday, capping a 6-0 record in Commissioner’s Cup play. This will also be the Liberty’s WNBA-best third appearance in the championship game.
Las Vegas went 6-1 in Commissioner’s Cup play and held the tiebreaker over the Lynx (6-1) after a 100-97 victory over Minnesota on Saturday.
The Aces are the only team to win the Commissioner’s Cup and the league championship in the same season (2022). Hammon said making the Cup championship game doesn’t necessarily predict future success.
“We’re still trying to form our identity out and grind out ways to win basketball games,” she said. “History says that but you still have to go and do the work, so I don’t look too much into that as any kind of indication for my team. I always want to be one of the best teams in the league wherever we’re playing so our goal is always to try to get better every day. I think it’s fun that it’s definitely something on the line.”
No team has won the Cup twice since it began in 2021.
A share of a $500,000 prize pool is at stake in the June 30 finale.
