The Las Vegas Aces moved into No. 1 in the WNBA standings after beating the Minnesota Lynx, and the win also put them atop the Western Conference Commissioner’s Cup standings. Chelsea Gray helped drive the surge as the Aces finished with the kind of late-game execution that has turned a crowded race at the top into their race to lead.
That matters now because the Aces are in control of the Commissioner’s Cup path, and one more win in one of their next two games against Dallas and Phoenix would send them to the final for the third time in five years. The New York Liberty already clinched their bid with one game left, which leaves the Aces with a chance to secure their place before the rest of the field can catch up.
The win over Minnesota was not tidy. Olivia Miles kept attacking A’ja Wilson in the fourth quarter, and Wilson had to finish the job at the free-throw line. Before that, the Aces used a reset timeout to set up a play for Wilson with the paint open, a clean finish to a game that had been decided in crunch time by small edges and one clear answer under pressure.
The league has spent this stretch living on a knife’s edge, with overtime games and one-possession finishes piling up across the WNBA. That makes the Aces’ climb to No. 1 more than a line in a standings table. It shows how quickly control can change when a contender closes better than everyone else, especially in a race where the margin for error is already thin.
Elsewhere, Breanna Stewart made history on Sunday with a career-high seven blocks, becoming the 16th player in WNBA history to reach that mark in a game. New York has also posted the best defensive rating in the WNBA over the last five games, even while starting a rookie and Marine Johannès in the backcourt. Stewart and Jonquel Jones still do not look fully at their peaks, but they remain the best frontcourt in the league, and that gap between form and standard is part of why the Liberty are still right there.
For the Aces, the next step is simple and unforgiving. Beat Dallas or Phoenix, and they keep their hold on first place in the Commissioner’s Cup race and move one game closer to another final. Miss both chances, and the No. 1 spot becomes just another short-lived turn at the top.
