The 2020 Las Vegas Aces season was the franchise's 24th season in the Women's National Basketball Association and the third year the franchise is based in Las Vegas - after relocating from San Antonio and Utah. This was the third season under head coach Bill Laimbeer. The regular season tipped off on July 26, 2020 versus the Chicago Sky.
This WNBA season would’ve had an all-time high 36 regular-season games. 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. 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.
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
The Aces will make the following selection in the 2020 WNBA draft.
RoundPickPlayerNationalitySchool/Team/Country 3 33 Lauren Manis Holy Cross
Trades and roster changes DateDetails February 10, 2020 Signed G Angel McCoughtry February 16, 2020 Signed G Danielle Robinson February 18, 2020 Re-signed G Sugar Rodgers March 2, 2020 Re-signed G Lindsay Allen April 22, 2020 Re-signed C Liz Cambage. May 7, 2020 C Park Ji-su will sit out the season and stay in Korea. May 15, 2020 Re-signed G Kelsey Plum. May 19, 2020 Re-signed C Carolyn Swords June 16, 2020 Signed G Alex Bentley July 4, 2020 C Liz Cambage announced that she will be sitting out the 2020 season. Signed C Avery Warley
Roster
Game log
Regular season
| 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
| 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
| 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
Playoffs
| 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
| 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
Standings
Playoffs
Statistics
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 Western Conference Player of the Month – August September 1, 2020 Bill Laimbeer WNBA Coach of the Month – August A'ja Wilson Western Conference Player of the Week September 14, 2020 Western Conference Player of the Month – September September 15, 2020 Bill Laimbeer WNBA Coach of the Month – September A'ja Wilson WNBA MVP September 17, 2020 Dearica Hamby Sixth Woman of the Year September 20, 2020 Dan Padover Basketball Executive of the Year September 20, 2020 A'ja Wilson 2nd Team All-Defense September 29, 2020 All-WNBA First Team October 4, 2020
References
External links Official website of the Las Vegas Aces