The Las Vegas Aces are headed back to familiar territory, as A’ja Wilson and company are on their way to their fourth WNBA Finals in six seasons and their third in four years.
Vegas barely survived a five-game series with the scrappy, shorthanded Indiana Fever, who were punching far above their weight class throughout an improbable playoff run that brought them a game within the Finals with just eight active players and no Caitlin Clark.
It took dueling 30-plus-point efforts from Wilson (35 points) and partner-in-crime Jackie Young (32 points) for the Aces, as well as a torrid overtime stretch from perennial playoff performer Chelsea Gray, to advance to the 2025 WNBA Finals, which begin Friday.
Unprecedented Turnaround Leads To History
The Aces’ season appeared to be lost this summer, with the team battling to stay above .500 for much of the campaign. When Becky Hammon’s seat was the hottest following a 53-point loss to the Lynx on Aug. 2, the Aces banded together following a passionate speech from A’ja Wilson and went on a 17-game win streak that pushed them from ninth in the league to the No. 2 seed.
That stretch also pushed Wilson to a league-record fourth MVP award. Should the Aces secure a third WNBA championship in four seasons by downing the Phoenix Mercury in the 2025 WNBA Finals, which begin Oct. 3, Wilson could become the first player in WNBA history to win the MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and the Finals MVP all in the same season.
Wilson is one of five players in WNBA history to achieve the first two feats in the same season, and she’s one of two players, alongside the legendary Sheryl Swoopes, to do so twice in a career. At 29 years old, Wilson would undeniably enter the pantheon of the most accomplished women’s basketball players of all time (if her fourth MVP award didn’t put her there already).
From Different Places to Aces
The Aces/Silver Stars franchise is making its fifth WNBA Finals appearance, and its fourth since relocating from San Antonio to Las Vegas ahead of the 2018 season. Wilson was the first Las Vegas-based draft pick ahead of their debut season on the Strip, and she has since become the highest-profile athlete in a city with an NFL team and a championship-winning NHL team.
Vegas parted ways with the last remaining holdover from the team’s San Antonio era, Kelsey Plum, in a blockbuster trade this past offseason that saw the Aces acquire Seattle’s Jewell Loyd in a three-team swap that sent Plum to Los Angeles. It didn’t look like the greatest choice initially following Plum’s hot start in LA and Loyd’s early struggles, but it’s hard to argue now.
Loyd’s stint with the Aces hasn’t been the smoothest sailing, but a late July decision to start bringing her in off the bench not only made Loyd more comfortable but also allowed for the Aces to abandon an initial three-guard starting lineup that caused early troubles for the team. It also opened Jackie Young’s game, allowing her to emerge as a true 1A to Wilson at times this year.
Per the league, here is the updated WNBA Finals schedule between the Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury.
Vegas gets home court advantage for Games 1 + 2 pic.twitter.com/kMAdpyasMP
— Sara Jane Gamelli (@SaraJGamelli) October 1, 2025
Island of Misfit Toys
The Aces have been an island of misfit toys of sorts outside the established core, which has already led them to two championships. They have tried several different combinations of players throughout the first half of the season, while searching for the group that could spark the results we’re seeing now.
The Aces’ midseason resurgence can be traced back to one move in particular, which was the acquisition of forward Na’Lyssa Smith from the Dallas Wings in exchange for a 2027 first-round pick. It clearly paid off, as Vegas went 21-6 in the regular season with Smith in the lineup in what has been a mutually beneficial partnership.
Smith’s ability to clog the post and play the role of a traditional big allowed Wilson to open her game and play more of the on-ball role she thrives in the most as a scorer. Wilson has developed a tight bond with Smith since her arrival, referring to her as her ‘twin’, and it isn’t too bold of a statement to say that Smith’s fingerprints are all over Wilson’s fourth MVP trophy.
The roster that was present at Aces Media Day in May seems like a distant memory at this point. Players like Crystal Bradford, Tiffany Mitchell, Liz Kitley and Deja Kelly have all come and gone this season, but one unlikely offseason addition that has managed to stick around and earn her role in Las Vegas for years to come is Dana Evans.
Evans has become a crucial bench piece for the Aces, providing a legitimate scoring spark off the bench that the team often lacked at times last season. Like Loyd, it took Evans a little while to come around, but now that she has, the Aces are a deeper team than they were in their two previous championship runs.
Mercury Momentum?
The Aces certainly have their work cut out for them against a scrappy Phoenix Mercury bunch that has already downed the two season-long championship favorites in the Lynx and the Liberty. Phoenix has a formidable Big 3 in comparison to Vegas’, consisting of Alyssa Thomas, Kahleah Cooper and Satou Sabally.
It’s not crazy to think Phoenix will be a popular choice among pundits, especially considering their recent tear and the fact the Aces have been taken to five games in their first two series against two teams that really had no business getting that far. The Aces won the regular-season series 3-1, which was an uncommon occurrence for them against the league’s best this season.
No Bold WNBA Finals Predictions
While I’ll avoid going on the record with an official prediction, the harsh reality of this series is that the Aces’ performance in the first two rounds won’t fly in the Finals. Seattle and what was left of Indiana were both teams with significant flaws, and it took miraculous luck for the Aces in the waning moments of two winner-take-all games to even reach this point.
One prediction I am willing to make? If this series goes seven, I don’t think the Aces are in good shape. This team has shown clear nerves in both winner-take-all games they’ve played, and the Mercury are a team that will pick up on that blood in the water and attack. This is a series the Aces need to control from the opening tip of Game 1 if they want to secure dynasty status.
