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
Coach	Bill Laimbeer
Arena	Originally: Mandalay Bay Events Center Rescheduled to: IMG Academy gymnasiums, Bradenton, Florida
Attendance	0 per game
Results
Record	18–4 (.818)
Place	1st (Western)
Playoff finish	1st Seed, Lost 0–3 in Finals to Seattle Storm
Team Leaders
Points	A'ja Wilson – 20.5 ppg
Rebounds	A'ja Wilson – 8.5 rpg
Assists	Danielle Robinson – 3.3 apg
← 2019 season 2021 season →

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

Game log

Regular season

2020 game log Total: 18–4
July Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location 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 Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location 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 Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location 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 Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location 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 Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location 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 Aces	18	4	.818	–	8–2
2	x – Seattle Storm	18	4	.818	–	8–2
3	x – Los Angeles Sparks	15	7	.682	3	5–5
4	x – Minnesota Lynx	14	8	.636	4	4–6
5	x – Phoenix Mercury	13	9	.591	5	4–6
6	x – Chicago Sky	12	10	.545	6	6–4
7	x – Connecticut Sun	10	12	.455	8	7–3
8	x – Washington Mystics	9	13	.409	9	6–4
9	e – Dallas Wings	8	14	.364	10	1–9
10	e – Atlanta Dream	7	15	.318	11	5–5
11	e – Indiana Fever	6	16	.273	12	4–6
12	e – New York Liberty	2	20	.091	16	2–8

• v
• t
• e

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)
											1	Las Vegas Aces	62	83	68	84	66
						4	Minnesota Lynx	80			7	Connecticut Sun	87	75	77	75	63
	5	Phoenix Mercury	85			5	Phoenix Mercury	79												1	Las Vegas Aces	80	91	59
	8	Washington Mystics	84																	2	Seattle Storm	93	104	92
											2	Seattle Storm			88	89	92
						3	Los Angeles Sparks	59			4	Minnesota Lynx			86	79	71
	6	Chicago Sky	81			7	Connecticut Sun	73
	7	Connecticut Sun	94

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.

External links

• Official website of the Las Vegas Aces