‘Do-or-die time’: Aces motivated for road trip as postseason looms

The Aces are hitting the road after losing two of their three games coming out of the Olympic break.

The team’s three-game trip will give the back-to-back defending WNBA champions a chance to fight their way back into the top four of the league’s standings.

The Aces (17-10) will kick things off with a rematch against the Lynx (20-8) at 6:30 p.m. Friday, two days after losing 98-87 to Minnesota at Michelob Ultra Arena.

They then play the Chicago Sky on Sunday and Dallas Wings on Tuesday.

The Aces’ loss to the Lynx on Wednesday knocked them to fifth place in the 12-team WNBA standings, a half-game behind the Seattle Storm.

The top eight teams make the playoffs and are seeded based on their records at the end of the 40-game regular season.

The New York Liberty, the Aces’ opponent in the 2023 WNBA Finals, hold the top spot and are seven games up on the Aces. The Liberty are also four games clear of the second-place Connecticut Sun.

The Aces have just 13 games remaining in the regular season. Five of those come against teams above them in the standings, so they have a chance to improve their seeding down the stretch.

Friday’s game against third-place Minnesota is one of those matchups.

Aces coach Becky Hammon said Monday her team’s playoff outlook isn’t anything to worry about yet.

“I mean, look, we’re all human. We can all read. We know what the standings are. I think more importantly, we’re about taking care of us and peaking at the right time,” Hammon said. “Everybody that is ahead of us, we play, if not twice, at least once. So it’s just about taking care of our own business. … This team here has not yet peaked. It’s been kind of not even close to peaking, but we’re trending up.”

Aces guard Kelsey Plum, after the team’s loss to the Lynx on Wednesday, was blunt when asked if her team felt motivated for the rematch Friday given the stakes.

“Yeah, it’s do-or-die time,” she said. “So absolutely.”

Fighting through

Plum said the second half of the season has presented its challenges. Six Aces participated in the Paris Olympics as the WNBA paused for three weeks.

Plum was one of them, winning gold with teammates A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray on Team USA.

“I think there’s a point in every season where it definitely becomes mental more than anything,” Plum said. “Obviously, you know, people have had a month off. Six of us haven’t. So that’s definitely a situation, but it’s not an excuse.”

Hammon said Monday that the team will likely have plenty of “no practice” days as the second half of the season continues in the interest of preserving energy.

Young, who scored 26 points for the Aces on Wednesday, spoke on the team’s morale.

“We just have to try to make the most of our time, get as much treatment as we can,” she said. “We’re just trying to lock in and be present whenever we’re on the court and just fight through whatever we’re feeling.

“We’re gold medalists. I can’t really complain about that. But we have a whole second half of the season, so (we’re focused on) just being able to just walk in and get back to playing Aces basketball and just trying to put that entire feeling back in your head. Just get out there and try to get the job done.”

3-peat still in sights

The goal posts haven’t moved for the Aces. Although they’re far removed from losing just six games in the regular season last year, Hammon still believes the team can once again win it all.

While upsets aren’t exactly commonplace in the WNBA playoffs, the Sky pulled it off in 2021. After recording a 16-16 record and landing the No. 6 seed, they advanced to win the title over the No. 5 seed Phoenix Mercury.

“They were a very average team throughout the course of the season. The playoffs came, they hit another gear, and they just kept rolling,” Hammon said. “I feel like we have that capability in this gym as well.”

Hammon added that she’d prefer not to wait “exactly until the playoffs” to improve. Maybe the Aces will flip a switch on the road.

Contact Callie Lawson-Freeman at clawsonfreeman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.