The Las Vegas Aces’ stellar start to the new season

In their pursuit of a second championship, the defending champions are not showing any signs of slowing down.
There is nothing lucky about the Las Vegas Aces, despite coming from a place where things are frequently left to chance.
The league-best 11–1 Aces are even more dominant this season after winning their first WNBA championship in franchise history a year ago. The norm now is performances like the Aces’ 99–79 away victory over the Mercury on Wednesday, when they had a lead of as many as 29 points.
Las Vegas has outscored their opponents by a total of 194 points through 12 games. The best such disparity in WNBA history is that one. Only four other teams have managed to go within even 30 points, and three of them, most recently the 2020 Storm at +185, went on to win the championship.
The Aces wasted little time in making their case as the squad to beat. The biggest victory in the WNBA this season was their 41-point triumph over the Storm in their first game. Las Vegas, which also defeated the Storm (again) by 33 points and the Lynx by 31 points, is responsible for each of the three largest victories of the year.
Teams have prevailed by 20 points or more 12 times in league games so far in 2023. Six of those, more than the rest of the league combined, were caused by the Aces. This indicates that in half of their contests, they are winning by at least 20 points.
The league standings of the Aces are almost hilarious. They’re on course to make history by becoming the first WNBA team to shoot at least 50% from the field (.502). That puts them nearly a full 10 percent ahead of their competitors (.406).
They also lead the league in blocks (5.7) and steals (8.5) while committing the fewest turnovers (11.5) and personal fouls (15.8) per game.
With 92.5 points per game in 2023, the Aces will only ever fall short of the Mercury in 2009 and 2010. The Aces now hold the fourth-best defensive rating (94.1) of any club in the previous 15 seasons, although those Mercury teams also had the lowest defensive rating in both seasons.
The Aces are so dangerous and the field’s favorite to win the title thanks to their mix of mastery on both sides of the floor.
The Aces ought to beat the 2014 Mercury (29–5) for the most wins in a season since the WNBA will play a record 40 regular-season games this year.
The 1998 Houston Comets, who finished the season 27–3 (.900), had the best winning percentage. For Las Vegas to duplicate that record, they would have to go 36–4.
This would necessitate the Aces continuing their current level of dominance and staying healthy for the remainder of the season.
It’s a challenging task for any team, but the Aces have already faced the Sun twice on the road (including their lone loss), who are expected to be the Aces’ main rivals along with the Liberty.
It feels dangerous to count the Aces out with their roster in place. Let’s examine Chelsea Gray to see why.
In 10 games during those playoffs, Gray averaged 21.7 points per game on an incredible 72.7% true shooting, winning MVP of the 2022 WNBA Finals. Over a 10-game playoff run, no other WNBA or NBA player has ever achieved both of those feats.
Despite leading the team in distribution and scoring this season, Chelsea Gray is only the Aces’ fourth-highest scorer. She is the only starter on the team’s starting five who isn’t a former first-round pick, which never fails to astound me.
The two-time league MVP A’ja Wilson is a strong candidate for the prize once more with averages of 18.6 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game.
Jackie Young, who leads the Aces in scoring with 21.0 PPG and leads the WNBA with 72.7% true shooting in 2023, is also a real superstar. These numbers are almost exact replicas of Gray’s from the previous postseason, which at the time seemed impossible to duplicate.
With her lightning-fast release and broad offensive toolbox, Kelsey Plum is still extremely dangerous, and that’s before we even mention the famous Candace Parker.
The offensive chemistry and defensive ferocity of all five players are demonstrated by the many assists and at least one theft they each average every game.
The Las Vegas Aces are not at all fortunate. On the other hand, anyone else taking them out could need some luck as they have all the firepower on both ends of the floor.