2021 Las Vegas Aces season | |
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Coach | Bill Laimbeer |
Arena | Michelob Ultra Arena |
Attendance | 2,943 per game |
Results | |
Record | 24–8 (.750) |
Place | 1st (Western) |
Playoff finish | 2nd seed, Lost in Semifinals to Phoenix Mercury 2–3 |
Team Leaders | |
Points | A'ja Wilson – 18.3 ppg |
Rebounds | A'ja Wilson – 9.3 rpg |
Assists | Chelsea Gray – 5.9 apg |
The 2021 Las Vegas Aces season was the franchise's 25th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the 4th year the franchise was based in Las Vegas. The regular season tipped off on May 15, 2021 at the Seattle Storm. [1]
The Aces started the season by splitting a two game set in Seattle in a rematch of last year's finals. After that set, they won four of their remaining five games in May, with their only other loss coming against Connecticut. They lost their opening game in June, but went on a five game winning streak from there. The streak was snapped in Minnesota, in overtime, in a one point loss to the Lynx. The Aces followed the loss with an overtime win against Seattle to finish out June 7–2. They carried their winning streak into July, winning the first two games of July. The streak was snapped, again in overtime, by the Mercury. They rounded out July with a loss and a win to finish 3–2 in the month. The Aces went into the Olympic break with a 15–6 overall record. They returned from the break with a 4–1 record in August, with the loss to the Sun surrounded by two wins. They closed out the season with a 5–1 record in September, including a four game winning streak. They finished the season with a 24–8 overall record, which earned the team the second seed in the 2021 WNBA Playoffs. 24 wins tied their franchise record for regular season wins with 2008.
As the second seed, the Aces earned a double bye into the Semifinals, and awaited the highest remaining seed from the Second Round. After the games of the First and Second Round, the highest remaining seed was the Phoenix Mercury. The Aces had home court advantage in the series, but lost two of their home games, despite a 13–3 home record in the regular season. The Aces couldn't win Game 5 at home, losing by three to end the series and their season.
The Aces made the following selections in the 2021 WNBA draft.
Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 12 | Iliana Rupert | France | Tango Bourges Basket (France) |
2 | 14 | Destiny Slocum | United States | Arkansas |
3 | 36 | Kionna Jeter | United States | Towson |
Date | Details | |
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December 9, 2020 | Exercised Team Option on G Jackie Young [2] | |
January 13, 2021 | Signed G Lindsay Allen and F Emma Cannon to Training Camp Contracts [3] | |
Core C Liz Cambage [4] | ||
February 1, 2021 | Re-Signed F Dearica Hamby [5] | |
February 2, 2021 | Signed G Chelsea Gray [6] | |
February 11, 2021 | Signed G Riquna Williams [7] | |
February 15, 2021 | Traded G Lindsay Allen and the 24th Pick in the 2021 Draft to Indiana in exchange for the 14th Pick in the 2021 Draft. [8] | |
March 12, 2021 | Re-Signed C Liz Cambage [9] | |
April 18, 2021 | Signed G Destiny Slocum to a Rookie Scale Contract [10] | |
Signed F Lauren Manis, F Shakayla Thomas and C Kate Cain to Training Camp Contracts [11] | ||
April 19, 2021 | Signed G Kionna Jeter to a Rookie Scale Contract [12] | |
April 26, 2021 | Waived G Kionna Jeter [13] | |
April 29, 2021 | Waived C Kate Cain [14] | |
May 11, 2021 | Waived F Lauren Manis and F Shakayla Thomas [15] | |
May 29, 2021 | Waived F Emma Cannon and signed F Joyner Holmes [16] | |
June 28, 2021 | Waived F Joyner Holmes [17] | |
July 2, 2021 | Signed C Kiah Stokes [18] | |
September 2, 2021 | Signed G Bria Holmes to a 7-Day Contract [19] |
2021 Las Vegas Aces roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2021 pre-season game log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 0–1 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–0)
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2021 pre-season schedule |
2021 playoff game log Total: 2–3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Semifinals
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2021 playoff schedule |
# | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Conf. | Home | Road | Cup |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | x – Connecticut Sun | 26 | 6 | .813 | – | 12–3 | 15–1 | 11–5 | 9–1 |
2 | x – Las Vegas Aces | 24 | 8 | .750 | 2 | 11–4 | 13–3 | 11–5 | 6–4 |
3 | x – Minnesota Lynx | 22 | 10 | .688 | 4 | 10–5 | 13–3 | 9–7 | 7–3 |
4 | x – Seattle Storm | 21 | 11 | .656 | 5 | 9–6 | 11–5 | 10–6 | 8–2 |
5 | x – Phoenix Mercury | 19 | 13 | .594 | 7 | 6–9 | 7–9 | 12–4 | 5–5 |
6 | x – Chicago Sky | 16 | 16 | .500 | 10 | 10–5 | 6–10 | 10–6 | 6–4 |
7 | x – Dallas Wings | 14 | 18 | .438 | 12 | 7–8 | 7–9 | 7–9 | 3–7 |
8 | x – New York Liberty | 12 | 20 | .375 | 14 | 6–9 | 7–9 | 5–11 | 5–5 |
9 | e – Washington Mystics | 12 | 20 | .375 | 14 | 7–8 | 8–8 | 4–12 | 4–6 |
10 | e – Los Angeles Sparks | 12 | 20 | .375 | 14 | 2–13 | 8–8 | 4–12 | 1–9 |
11 | e – Atlanta Dream | 8 | 24 | .250 | 18 | 6–9 | 4–12 | 4–12 | 4–6 |
12 | e – Indiana Fever | 6 | 26 | .188 | 20 | 4–11 | 4–12 | 2–14 | 2–8 |
Notes
First round Sept. 23 | Second round Sept. 26 | Semifinals Sept. 28 – Oct. 8 | WNBA Finals Oct. 10 – Oct. 17 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | Las Vegas Aces | 96 | 91 | 60 | 93 | 84 | ||||||||||||||||||||
4 | Seattle Storm | 80 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 90 | 117 | 87 | 76 | 87 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Phoenix Mercury | 83 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 85OT | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 77 | 91OT | 50 | 74 | – | ||||||||||||||
8 | New York Liberty | 82 | 6 | Chicago Sky | 91 | 86 | 86 | 80 | – | |||||||||||||||||
1 | Connecticut Sun | 95 | 79 | 83 | 69 | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
3 | Minnesota Lynx | 76 | 6 | Chicago Sky | 1012OT | 68 | 86 | 79 | – | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Chicago Sky | 81 | 6 | Chicago Sky | 89 | |||||||||||||||||||||
7 | Dallas Wings | 64 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Teams re-seeded after each round.
Legend | |||||||
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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 |
Source: [20]
Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A'ja Wilson | 32 | 32 | 31.9 | 44.4 | 100 | 87.6 | 9.3 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 18.3 |
Kelsey Plum | 26 | 0 | 25.5 | 43.7 | 38.6 | 94.4 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 14.8 |
Liz Cambage | 25 | 24 | 23.8 | 54.3 | 35.7 | 71.0 | 8.2 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 14.2 |
Jackie Young | 32 | 32 | 31.8 | 50.5 | 25.0 | 83.3 | 4.1 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 12.2 |
Dearica Hamby | 29 | 0 | 24.5 | 54.5 | 25.0 | 65.5 | 6.7 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 11.6 |
Chelsea Gray | 32 | 32 | 28.9 | 45.4 | 38.0 | 88.9 | 2.9 | 5.9 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 11.1 |
Riquna Williams | 32 | 32 | 26.0 | 44.4 | 41.7 | 92.0 | 2.6 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 10.5 |
Park Ji-su | 25 | 0 | 8.9 | 32.7 | 0.0 | 83.3 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 2.0 |
Kiah Stokes | 15 | 8 | 20.5 | 58.8 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 6.1 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.5 |
Destiny Slocum | 21 | 0 | 6.4 | 31.8 | 33.3 | 60.0 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
Angel McCoughtry | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
A'ja Wilson | Western Conference Player of the Month - June | July 1 | [21] |
Chelsea Gray | WNBA All-Star Selection | June 30 | [22] |
Liz Cambage | |||
Dearica Hamby | |||
A'ja Wilson | |||
A'ja Wilson | Western Conference Player of the Week | July 6 | [23] |
Kelsey Plum | September 20 | [24] | |
Kelsey Plum | Western Conference Player of the Month - September | September 20 | [25] |
Kelsey Plum | Sixth Woman of the Year | September 30 | [26] |
Dan Padover | Basketball Executive of the Year | [27] | |
A'ja Wilson | All-WNBA Second Team | October 15 | [28] |
Elizabeth Folake Cambage is an Australian professional basketball player for the Maccabi Bnot Ashdod of the Israeli Female Basketball Premier League. Cambage currently shares the WNBA single-game scoring record with A'ja Wilson, with her 53-point performance against the New York Liberty on 17 July 2018.
Kelsey Christine Plum is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She won a WNBA championship in 2022, when she earned her first All-WNBA First Team selection and was named the WNBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (MVP) in her first WNBA All-Star Game. She also won the gold medal in Women's 3x3 basketball at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
A'ja Riyadh Wilson is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Wilson played for the South Carolina Gamecocks in college, and helped lead the Gamecocks to their first NCAA Women's Basketball Championship in 2017, and won the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player award. In 2018, she won a record third straight SEC Player of the Year award, leading South Carolina to a record fourth straight SEC Tournament Championship, becoming the all-time leading scorer in South Carolina women's basketball history, and was a consensus first-team All-American for the third consecutive season. Wilson swept all National Player of the Year awards as the best player in Women's College basketball for 2018. In the 2018 WNBA draft, she was drafted first overall by the Aces.
The Las Vegas Aces are an American professional basketball team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Aces compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team plays their home games at Michelob Ultra Arena in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, and is headquartered in Henderson, Nevada. The Aces won the 2022 WNBA Commissioner's Cup and WNBA Championship.
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The 2018 WNBA season will be the 21st season for the Dallas Wings franchise of the WNBA. This will be the franchise's 3rd season in Dallas. The season tips off on May 18.
The 2018 WNBA season was the 22nd season for the Las Vegas Aces franchise of the WNBA. This was the franchise's inaugural season in Las Vegas, after moving from San Antonio during the off season. The season tips off on May 20.
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The 2019 WNBA season was the 23rd season for the Las Vegas Aces franchise of the WNBA and the 2nd year the franchise was based in Las Vegas. The season tipped off on May 26, 2019 versus the Los Angeles Sparks.
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The 2021 WNBA season was the 24th season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season tipped off on May 14, 2021, at the Minnesota Lynx.
The 2021 WNBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the WNBA's 2021 season. The Chicago Sky won their first WNBA championship.
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