The only playoff implications affecting the Sky on Sunday were in games happening outside of Mohegan Sun, where the Sky were playing their final regular-season game of the year.
The Aces clinched the No. 1 seed after the Liberty’s 90-88 loss to the Mystics, setting up a best-of-three series against the Sky. Home-court advantage goes to the Aces for the first two games before flipping to the Sky if they can force a Game 3.
Game 1 will tip-off at 9 p.m. Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“We have to figure out how we’re going to approach the game,” Courtney Williams said. “But at the end of the day, it’s the playoffs. It doesn’t matter who it is. It’s a different game.”
Williams recorded her second career triple-double Sunday with 23 points, 16 rebounds and 13 assists. Marina Mabrey added 16 points, shooting 5-for-10 from three. Elizabeth Williams finished with 21 points, and Dana Evans had 18 points, three assists and two rebounds.
Sun All-Stars DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas played under 20 minutes each as coach Stephanie White rested key players. After clinching the No. 3 seed, the Sun will meet the No. 6 Lynx in the first round.
The other first-round series: No. 2 Liberty vs. No. 7 Mystics and No. 4 Wings vs. No. 5 Dream.
MVP talk
The MVP race between the Aces’ A’ja Wilson, the Liberty’s Breanna Stewart and Thomas is one of the tightest in league history. The deadline for WNBA media to cast their ballots on the league’s end-of-season awards was Sunday night, sparking more discussion among players across the league.
“It’s a tough one this year,” Elizabeth Williams said. “Honestly, I think it's great for us and the game to have the conversation where it’s not just a clear choice.”
Each candidate has made history this season.
Thomas became the first player in the league to record back-to-back triple-doubles on July 30 and Aug. 1 against the Lynx and finished the season with a league-record six.
Wilson, meanwhile, is third in the league in points per game and tied the WNBA single-game scoring record when she had 53 points against the Dream on Aug. 22.
Stewart is second in the league in points per game (23) with four 40-plus point performances. She set a single-season league record with 919 points.
“I think AT is easily MVP,” Williams said. “That’s no shade to Stew or A’ja, but AT is doing something that has never been done before.”
Injury news
Alanna Smith was helped to the locker room during the second quarter. She did not return to the game, and the Sky had no update afterward.
Kahleah Copper isn’t expected to miss any playoff games after sitting out to manage a chronic toe injury. Interim coach-general manager Emre Vatansever said the injury is nothing serious.
This and that
The Aces beat the Sky in all three regular-season meetings, with a margin of victory of 10 points.
The Sky last met the Aces in the playoffs in 2019. The Sky lost the single-elimination game on a heave from Dearica Hamby in the final seconds.
