Can Connecticut Sun dethrone Las Vegas Aces amid best start in franchise history? How to watch, what to know

The Connecticut Sun already felt the sting of losing in the WNBA Finals to the Las Vegas Aces back in 2022, and coach Stephanie White knows that her team’s path to an elusive first title likely runs through the reigning back-to-back champions.

Vegas became the first team since the 2001-02 Los Angeles Sparks to win back-to-back titles last season when they toppled the New York Liberty in a 3-1 series. Coach Becky Hammon has never lost a playoff series in her two seasons at the helm of the Aces, and the team returned four players who went on to become Paris Olympic team members to its starting lineup this year.

But the Aces in 2024 have yet to play like the team that dominated the league last year. The team didn’t suffer its second loss in 2023 until July 7, but Vegas is already 7-6 this season and had lost four of their last five games before a 94-83 win over the Seattle Storm on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Connecticut is in the midst of the best start in franchise history with a WNBA-leading 13-1 record. The Sun are just the seventh team in league history to record a single loss through 14 games, and all six previously have gone on to play in that year’s WNBA Finals.

Connecticut will get its first shot at the defending champions in Las Vegas on Friday, looking for their first victory over the Aces on the road since June 2022.

“We certainly have to go through them to win a championship. They have been there,” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “But at the same time it’s the next step for us in our journey and the next opponent in front of us. We’ve just got to be locked in. Winning is tough. Playing on the road is even tougher, and playing on the road against a defending champ takes it up another level. So e’ve got to be disciplined. We’ve got to be detailed and come ready to play.”

Despite the Aces’ early struggles, superstar forward A’ja Wilson immediately established herself as the frontrunner for MVP in 2024. Wilson, who finished third for the award last year behind New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart and the Sun’s Alyssa Thomas, is averaging a career-high 27.9 points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks through her first games. She has recorded a WNBA-record 18 consecutive games with at least 20 points and eight rebounds, 11 more than previous record holder Napheesa Collier.

But the Sun have an MVP candidate forward of their own in Thomas, who is poised for another career season in 2024. Thomas beat out Wilson for MVP runner-up by just six votes after breaking the WNBA record for regular-season triple-doubles with six last year, and she logged her first of this season in the opener against the Indiana Fever. Thomas is averaging nearly identical numbers to her 2023 campaign with 12.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game, and she is shooting a career-best 52.8% from the field. The superstar has yet to log her second triple-double of the season, but she has recorded at least a double-double in six games.

Against Seattle, Vegas looked more like itself in large part thanks to the return of point guard Chelsea Gray from an Achilles injury she suffered in Game 3 of the 2023 Finals. The five-time All-Star logged seven assists, four rebounds and two blocks in her 2024 debut playing just 16 minutes off the bench.

Despite the Finals loss, Connecticut doesn’t have the same burgeoning rivalry with the Aces as it does with the neighboring Liberty who eliminated them in the WNBA semifinals last year. The Sun went 1-2 against the eventual champions in 2023, earning a 94-77 win in their second meeting behind a career-high 41 points from DeWanna Bonner. But there’s a new wrinkle of drama between the two teams entering the first matchup of 2024: Former UConn standout Tiffany Hayes.

Hayes, an 12th-year WNBA veteran, started all 40 games for the Sun in 2023 before announcing her retirement from the league in December on the Counted Me Out podcast. Less than six months later on May 31, Hayes abruptly reversed course and signed a rest-of-season contract with Vegas. The 5-foot-10 guard has made an immediate impact, averaging 8.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists over her first seven appearances for the Aces.

“I’m excited for her to be back in the league. Disappointed for us, of course, but excited for her,” White said after Hayes’ signing was announced. “I think, being somebody who’s been a player in this league, understanding that you’ve got veteran players who want opportunities to continue to compete and want to benefit from some of the things that that teams are able to provide for them now, I certainly get that.”

How to watch Connecticut Sun at Las Vegas Aces

Site: Michelob Ultra Arena, Las Vegas

Team records: Sun 13-1; Aces 7-6

Time: 10 p.m. ET, Friday

Last meeting: 102-84, Las Vegas; July 1, 2023 at Michelob Ultra Arena

TV: ION

Streaming: WNBA League Pass