The Las Vegas Aces didn’t enter the 2024 WNBA Playoffs as the title favorite for the first time in a few years, as the back-to-back champs only landed the 4-seed and were second on the odds sheet behind the New York Liberty as Game 1s tipped off on Sunday.
The Liberty took care of business with relative ease against the Dream in their Game 1 to open the day, but the Aces needed a much bigger effort to get past the Storm in the nightcap in Vegas. Seattle came out with terrific intensity on both ends of the floor and built an 18-9 lead after the first quarter, holding Vegas to 2-of-18 shooting in the opening frame, while Nneka Ogwumike got off to a strong start to lead Seattle offensively as they turned defense into offense.
The Aces would quickly battle back and the game settled into a back-and-forth affair, with Seattle leading by four at the half despite an extremely quiet first 20 minutes from the unanimous MVP, A’ja Wilson . Unsurprisingly, she woke up in the third quarter to score 15 in the period by herself, helping the Aces close the gap down to one heading into the fourth.