Watch live coverage of the WNBA playoff semi-final between Las Vegas Aces and Connecticut Sun from 6pm on Sky Sports YouTube channel
Sunday 20 September 2020 20:58, UK
As the top-seeded Las Vegas Aces look to make their first Finals appearance since the franchise was in San Antonio in 2008, they face a Connecticut Sun team looking to get back to the Finals, where they finished as the runner-up after a five-game series with Washington.
After the first two rounds of the NBA Playoffs involved straight knockout matches, this year's Championship moves to a best of five series and the top seeded Aces lead the way.
Vegas have a revamped line-up compared to last year's squad that was eliminated in the semi-finals by Washington. Liz Cambage and Kelsey Plum are both missing the season, but veteran wing Angel McCoughtry has been a great complement to MVP A'ja Wilson as the Aces completed their best regular season in team history.
The Aces earned a double-bye to the semi-final round by finishing the regular season as the No. 1 seed. Las Vegas and Seattle both went 18-4 this season but it was Las Vegas who had the head-to-head tiebreaker after beating Storm on the final day of the regular season for a sixth straight win that takes them into the series in form.
However, Connecticut have momentum of their own having beaten the higher seeded Chicago Sky and Los Angeles Sparks in the opening two rounds but this is a very different team to that which was beaten in last year's finals.
While Alyssa and Jasmine Thomas remain from last year's finals, the Sun added versatile wing DeWanna Bonner, and veteran point guard Briann January while Brionna Jones has seen her role grow immensely with the absence of Jonquel Jones.
The Sun and Aces have four WNBA Finals appearances between them in their franchise histories - although Connecticut's 2019 appearance is the only one in the past decade for either team. Both are still in search of their first WNBA championship.
The forward matchup between A'ja Wilson and Alyssa Thomas will be key. Wilson was just named league MVP after averaging 20.5 points (2nd in WNBA), 8.5 rebounds (7th), 2.0 blocks (1st), 2.0 assists and 1.2 steals in her third WNBA season. The Aces went 14-1 this season when Wilson scores at least 20 points.
Thomas averaged 15.5 points (13th), 9 rebounds (2nd), 4.8 assists (6th) and 2 steals (1st) during the regular season and has been even better in the playoffs, with averages of 23.5 points, 10 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.5 steals in two win-or-go-home games.
Wilson and Thomas are two of the most efficient players in the league and both serve as the heartbeat of their respective teams on both ends of the court. Any opposing team's scouting report begins with Wilson when playing the Aces and Thomas when playing the Sun.
The Aces have the highest scoring bench in the WNBA as the reserves average 35.0 points per game, while the Sun reserves rank 10th at 18.9 points per game. The Aces are led by the duo of Hamby (13.0 PPG) and Young (11.0), who rank second and fourth, respectively, in bench scoring among the 61 players that came off the bench for at least 10 games this season.
While Hamby and Young both start the game on the bench, they both essentially play starters minutes. Hamby (28.3) and Young (25.8) rank first and second, respectively, in bench minutes, but also rank 27th and 44th, respectively, among all players in minutes per game.
Las Vegas' starting five ranked 11th in scoring (53.8 PPG) and is last among the final four teams in the playoffs, but they more than make up for it with their bench players as Las Vegas led the WNBA in scoring this season at 88.7 points per game.
The Aces played at the fastest pace in the league during the regular season (82.57 possessions per 40 minutes), while the Sun ranked ninth (79.84).
Neither team utilised the 3-point shot very heavily on offense, although the Sun did match their season high with nine 3-pointers made in their Second Round win over Los Angeles.
The Aces made (4.2) and attempted (11.5) the fewest 3-pointers of any team this season, although they did connect at the fourth-highest rate (36.6 per cent) when they did shoot them. While they finished last with only 14.3 per cent of their offense coming from beyond the arc, the Aces led all WNBA teams with 64.2 per cent of their points coming on 2-pointers and 21.5 per cent of their points coming on free throws.
The Aces (23.4) and Sun (20.0) ranked first and third, respectively, in free throw attempts per game, but the Sun shot a league-low 75.5% from the line, while Vegas finished eight at 81.5 per cent.
Neither the Aces nor the Sun are known for their 3-point shooting. Las Vegas shoots the long ball well (36.6 per cent, fourth in WNBA), but they attempt only 11.5 3-pointers per game, which ranks last in the league by a wide margin - the second-lowest team is Atlanta at 16.9 3PA, while Connecticut ranks 9th at 19.0 3PA per game.
Both teams are strong on the glass, with the Sun leading the WNBA in second-chance points (13.5 per game) during the regular season. In their two regular season meetings, the Sun averaged 14.5 second-chance points, which was the highest mark allowed by the Aces to any opponent this season.
Watch the Connecticut Sun take on the Las Vegas Aces in Game 1 of their WNBA playoff semi-final series on Sunday at 6pm via a free live stream on the Sky Sports website, Sky Sports app and Sky Sports' YouTube channel.
