2020 Las Vegas Aces season

The 2020 Las Vegas Aces season is the franchise's 24th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the 3rd year the franchise was based in Las Vegas. The regular season tipped off on July 26, 2020 versus the Chicago Sky.[1]

2020 Las Vegas Aces season
CoachBill Laimbeer
ArenaOriginally: Mandalay Bay Events Center
Rescheduled to: IMG Academy gymnasiums, Bradenton, Florida
Attendance0 per game
Results
Record18–4 (.818)
Place1st (Western)
Playoff finish1st Seed, Lost 0–3 in Finals to Seattle Storm
Team Leaders
PointsA'ja Wilson – 20.5 ppg
ReboundsA'ja Wilson – 8.5 rpg
AssistsDanielle Robinson – 3.3 apg

This WNBA season would’ve had an all-time high 36 regular-season games.[2] However, the plan for expanded games was put on hold on April 3, when the WNBA postponed its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] Under a plan approved on June 15, the league began a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy, without fans present, which started on July 24.[4][5]

The Aces got off to a rough start to their season, losing two of their first three games. However, from there, the team would go on a seven-game winning streak and four game winning streak, only separated by a single loss. Their 12–3 record on August 29, would secure them a playoff berth. They lost on September 1, and that would be their last loss of the season. The Aces finished on a six-game winning streak, including a final day victory over the Seattle Storm to finish 18–4. The victory on the final day of the season secured them the first seed in the playoffs by virtue of a tie-breaker.

As the first seed, the Aces received a double-bye into the Semifinals of the playoffs. In the Semifinals, they played the seventh seeded Connecticut Sun. The Aces lost two of the first three games, but rebounded to win the final two games of the series to advance to the Finals. In the finals they faced the second seeded Storm. The Storm swept the best-of-five series three games to none, and the Aces finished runners up.

Transactions

WNBA draft
See also: 2020 WNBA draft

The Aces will make the following selection in the 2020 WNBA draft.

Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country
3 33 Lauren Manis  United States Holy Cross

Trades and roster changes
Date Details
February 10, 2020 Signed G Angel McCoughtry[6]
February 16, 2020 Signed G Danielle Robinson[7]
February 18, 2020 Re-signed G Sugar Rodgers[8]
March 2, 2020 Re-signed G Lindsay Allen[9]
April 22, 2020 Re-signed C Liz Cambage.[10]
May 7, 2020 C Park Ji-su will sit out the season and stay in Korea.[11]
May 15, 2020 Re-signed G Kelsey Plum.[12]
May 19, 2020 Re-signed C Carolyn Swords[13]
June 16, 2020 Signed G Alex Bentley[14]
July 4, 2020 C Liz Cambage announced that she will be sitting out the 2020 season.[15]
Signed C Avery Warley[16]

Roster
2020 Las Vegas Aces roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
G 15 United States Allen, Lindsay 5' 8" (1.73m) 189 lb (86kg) 1995-03-20 Notre Dame 2
F 11 United States Burdick, Cierra 6' 2" (1.88m) 172 lb (78kg) 1993-09-30 Tennessee 3
C 8 Australia Cambage, Liz 6' 8" (2.03m) 216 lb (98kg) 1991-08-18 Australia 4
F 32 United States Cannon, Emma 6' 2" (1.88m) 190 lb (86kg) 1989-06-01 Florida Southern 1
F 5 United States Hamby, Dearica 6' 3" (1.91m) 189 lb (86kg) 1993-11-06 Wake Forest 5
G 21 United States McBride, Kayla 5' 10" (1.78m) 174 lb (79kg) 1992-06-25 Notre Dame 6
G/F 35 United States McCoughtry, Angel 6' 1" (1.85m) 173 lb (78kg) 1986-09-10 Louisville 10
G 10 United States Plum, Kelsey 5' 8" (1.73m) 145 lb (66kg) 1994-08-24 Washington 3
G 3 United States Robinson, Danielle 5' 9" (1.75m) 137 lb (62kg) 1989-05-10 Oklahoma 8
G 14 United States Rodgers, Sugar 5' 9" (1.75m) 137 lb (62kg) 1989-12-08 Georgetown 7
C 4 United States Swords, Carolyn 6' 6" (1.98m) 215 lb (98kg) 1989-07-19 Boston College 8
F 22 United States Wilson, A'ja 6' 4" (1.93m) 195 lb (88kg) 1996-08-08 South Carolina 2
G 0 United States Young, Jackie 6' 0" (1.83m) 165 lb (75kg) 1997-09-16 Notre Dame 1
Head coach
United States Bill Laimbeer (Notre Dame)
Assistant coaches
United States Vickie Johnson (Louisiana Tech)
United States Tanisha Wright (Penn State)



Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Game log

Regular season
2020 game log
Total: 18–4
July
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
1 July 26 Chicago Sky L 86–88 McCoughtry (25) Wilson (11) Allen (7) IMG Academy 0–1
2 July 29 Atlanta Dream W 100-70 Wilson (21) Wilson (11) Tied (3) IMG Academy 1–1
3 July 31 Phoenix Mercury L 95–102 McCoughtry (18) Wilson (8) Tied (4) IMG Academy 1–2
August
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
4 August 2 Dallas Wings W 79–70 Wilson (19) Tied (8) Hamby (4) IMG Academy 2–2
5 August 5 Washington Mystics W 83–77 Tied (20) Hamby (13) Robinson (3) IMG Academy 3–2
6 August 7 Los Angeles Sparks W 86–82 Wilson (26) Wilson (11) McCoughtry (5) IMG Academy 4–2
7 August 9 New York Liberty W 78–76 Wilson (31) Young (7) Tied (3) IMG Academy 5–2
8 August 11 Indiana Fever W 98–79 McCoughtry (20) Wilson (11) Tied (4) IMG Academy 6–2
9 August 13 Minnesota Lynx W 87–77 Wilson (23) Wilson (8) Allen (7) IMG Academy 7–2
10 August 15 Washington Mystics W 88–73 Young (16) Swords (7) Robinson (7) IMG Academy 8–2
11 August 18 Chicago Sky L 82–84 McCoughtry (17) Wilson (8) 3 tied (4) IMG Academy 8–3
12 August 20 Connecticut Sun W 99–78 McBride (25) McCoughtry (8) Robinson (9) IMG Academy 9–3
13 August 22 Seattle Storm W 82–74 Wilson (23) Tied (14) Robinson (7) IMG Academy 10–3
14 August 25 Dallas Wings W 96–92 Wilson (26) Hamby (14) Young (4) IMG Academy 11–3
15 August 29 New York Liberty W 80–63 Wilson (20) Hamby (10) Robinson (6) IMG Academy 12–3
September
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
16 September 1 Phoenix Mercury L 85–92 Young (20) Hamby (13) McBride (9) IMG Academy 12–4
17 September 3 Connecticut Sun W 93–78 Wilson (24) 3 tied (4) Young (9) IMG Academy 13–4
18 September 5 Atlanta Dream W 89–79 Wilson (21) Hamby (9) Young (6) IMG Academy 14–4
19 September 8 Indiana Fever W 92–86 Wilson (22) Wilson (16) Young (7) IMG Academy 15–4
20 September 10 Minnesota Lynx W 104–89 McCoughtry (22) Hamby (11) 3 tied (6) IMG Academy 16–4
21 September 12 Los Angeles Sparks W 84–70 Wilson (19) Wilson (8) McBride (6) IMG Academy 17–4
22 September 13 Seattle Storm W 86–84 Tied (23) Swords (8) Hamby (8) IMG Academy 18–4
2020 season schedule

Playoffs
2020 playoff game log
Total: 3–5
Semifinals
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 September 20 Connecticut Sun L 62–87 Wilson (19) Wilson (9) Tied (3) IMG Academy 0–1
2 September 22 Connecticut Sun W 83–75 Wilson (29) Wilson (7) Young (5) IMG Academy 1–1
3 September 24 Connecticut Sun L 68–77 Wilson (20) Wilson (12) Young (7) IMG Academy 1–2
4 September 27 Connecticut Sun W 84–75 McCoughtry (29) Wilson (13) McCoughtry (6) IMG Academy 2–2
5 September 29 Connecticut Sun W 66–63 Wilson (23) Wilson (11) Tied (4) IMG Academy 3–2
Finals
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 October 2 Seattle Storm L 80–93 McCoughtry (20) Swords (12) Tied (4) IMG Academy 0–1
2 October 4 Seattle Storm L 91–104 Wilson (20) McCoughtry (8) Robinson (10) IMG Academy 0–2
3 October 6 Seattle Storm L 59–92 Wilson (18) Swords (10) Wilson (4) IMG Academy 0–3
2020 playoff schedule

Standings
# Team W L PCT GB Conf.
1 x – Las Vegas Aces184.818–8–2
2 x – Seattle Storm184.818–8–2
3 x – Los Angeles Sparks157.68235–5
4 x – Minnesota Lynx148.63644–6
5 x – Phoenix Mercury139.59154–6
6 x – Chicago Sky1210.54566–4
7 x – Connecticut Sun1012.45587–3
8 x – Washington Mystics913.40996–4
9 e – Dallas Wings814.364101–9
10 e – Atlanta Dream715.318115–5
11 e – Indiana Fever616.273124–6
12 e – New York Liberty220.091162–8

Notes

x – Clinched playoff berth
e – Eliminated from playoffs
Home and Away records not shown, as all games played at a neutral location.
Updated to include results from September 13, 2020
Source

Playoffs
Main article: 2020 WNBA Playoffs
First round:
Single elimination
(September 15)		Second round:
Single elimination
(September 17)		Semifinals:
Best-of-five
(September 20–29)		WNBA Finals:
Best-of-five
(October 2–11)
1Las Vegas Aces6283688466
4Minnesota Lynx807Connecticut Sun8775777563
5Phoenix Mercury855Phoenix Mercury791Las Vegas Aces809159
8Washington Mystics842Seattle Storm9310492
2Seattle Storm888992
3Los Angeles Sparks594Minnesota Lynx867971
6Chicago Sky817Connecticut Sun73
7Connecticut Sun94

Note: Teams re-seeded after each round.

Statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage  TO  Turnovers per game
 PF  Fouls per game Team leader League leader

Regular season
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
A'ja Wilson 22 22 31.7 48.0 0 78.1 8.5 2.0 1.2 2.0 20.5
Angel McCoughtry 22 22 20.0 51.8 47.1 88.2 5.1 2.5 1.3 0.3 14.4
Dearica Hamby 22 0 28.3 53.9 47.4 71.6 7.1 2.7 1.7 0.2 13.0
Kayla McBride 22 22 26.6 42.5 34.2 89.7 2.3 2.4 1.2 0.1 12.5
Jackie Young 22 0 25.8 49.2 23.1 85.2 4.3 3.0 0.7 0.1 11.0
Danielle Robinson 22 1 7.4 32.1 31.3 75.0 2.4 3.3 0.9 0.1 7.4
Sugar Rodgers 22 0 12.0 32.1 31.3 75.0 1.3 1.4 0.3 0.1 3.4
Lindsay Allen 21 21 13.5 41.8 33.3 80.0 1.1 2.4 0.3 0 3.3
Carolyn Swords 22 22 17.5 46.0 0 77.3 4.6 0.9 0.2 0.1 2.9
Cierra Burdick 13 0 2.2 28.6 0 0 0.4 0.2 0 0 0.3
Emma Cannon 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Awards and honors
Recipient Award Date awarded Ref.
A'ja Wilson Western Conference Player of the Week August 10, 2020 [17]
Western Conference Player of the Month – August September 1, 2020 [18]
Bill Laimbeer WNBA Coach of the Month – August [19]
A'ja Wilson Western Conference Player of the Week September 14, 2020 [20]
Western Conference Player of the Month – September September 15, 2020 [21]
Bill Laimbeer WNBA Coach of the Month – September [22]
A'ja Wilson WNBA MVP September 17, 2020 [23]
Dearica Hamby Sixth Woman of the Year September 20, 2020 [24]
Dan Padover Basketball Executive of the Year September 20, 2020 [25]
A'ja Wilson 2nd Team All-Defense September 29, 2020 [26]
All-WNBA First Team October 4, 2020 [27]

References
  1. "2020 Las Vegas Aces Scheudle". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  2. "Atlanta Dream Announce 2020 Schedule - Atlanta Dream". dream.wnba.com. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  3. "WNBA Statement Regarding the Start of the 2020 Regular Season". April 3, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  4. "WNBA Announces Plan To Tip Off 2020 Season". WNBA. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  5. "WNBA announces plans for 2020 season to start late July in Florida". NBC Sports Washington. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  6. "Aces Dive Head First Into The Free Agency Pool, Signing Five-Time WNBA All-Star And Two-Time Olympic Gold Medalist Angel McCoughtry". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. February 10, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  7. "Aces Sign Three-Time All-Star Guard Danielle Robinson". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. February 16, 2020. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  8. "Las Vegas Re-Signs All-Star Guard Sugar Rodgers". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. February 18, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  9. "Aces Re-Sign Guard Lindsay Allen". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. March 2, 2020.
  10. "Aces Re-Sign Three-Time All-Star Center Liz Cambage". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. April 22, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  11. "Aces' JiSu Park to skip 2020 WNBA season, return to Korea". AP News. May 7, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  12. "Las Vegas Aces Re-Sign Guard Kelsey Plum". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. May 15, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  13. "Aces Re-Sign Eight-Year WNBA Veteran Carolyn Swords". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. May 19, 2020. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  14. "Las Vegas Aces Sign All-Star Guard Alex Bentley". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. June 16, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  15. "Aces Center Liz Cambage Expected To Miss 2020 WNBA Season". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. July 4, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  16. "Aces Sign Center Avery Warley-Talbert". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. July 4, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  17. "Wilson, Vandersloot Earn Players Of The Week Honors For Week 2". WNBA.com. August 10, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  18. "A'ja Wilson, Courtney Vandersloot Named WNBA Players of the Month". wnba.com. WNBA. September 1, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  19. "WNBA Names Bill Laimbeer Coach of the Month". wnba.com. WNBA. September 1, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  20. "Hines-Allen, Wilson Earn Player Of The Week Honors For Week 7". wnba.com. WNBA. September 14, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  21. "WNBA Announces Players Of The Month". wnba.com. WNBA. September 15, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  22. "Bill Laimbeer Earns WNBA Coach Of The Month". wnba.com. WNBA. September 15, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  23. "A'ja Wilson Named WNBA Most Valuable Player". wnba.com. WNBA. September 17, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  24. "Las Vegas' Dearica Hamby Named 2020 WNBA Sixth Woman Of The Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 20, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  25. "Las Vegas' Dan Padover Named 2020 WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 20, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  26. "Two Atlanta Dream Players And Seattle Storm's Alysha Clark Headline 2020 WNBA All-Defensive Team". wnba.com. WNBA. September 29, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  27. "A'ja Wilson And Candace Parker Unanimously Selected To 2020 All-WNBA First Team". wnba.com. WNBA. October 4, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
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