The Las Vegas Aces saw their 17-game winning streak end on Tuesday in dramatic fashion, as the Seattle Storm picked up an 86-83 victory to force a Game 3 in the best-of-three first round series.
In the process, Seattle won its first playoff game since Aug. 28, 2022, which was also against the Aces, and snapped both a six-game playoff losing streak against the Aces and a four-game playoff losing streak while facing elimination.
“We lost. It’s a shame. I feel like we let that one go in our poor, soft defense down the stretch,” Vegas head coach Becky Hammon said after the game.
Las Vegas’ 17 consecutive wins were just one shy of the WNBA record. The Los Angeles Sparks hold the league’s longest winning streak, reeling off 18 consecutive wins in 2001.
The Aces had a dominant 102-77 victory in Game 1 after building a 20-point lead by halftime — the largest playoff lead at halftime in franchise history. However, the Storm knew how to respond while playing in Seattle on Tuesday night.
Game 2 was tight at the beginning, but the Aces were pulling away in the third quarter and led by as many as 14 points. Then the fourth quarter happened. Seattle’s defense turned up the heat and held Aces star A’ja Wilson to 1 of 3 from the field. The Storm outscored the Aces 23-8 in the final seven minutes while keeping Wilson scoreless.
It was a full team effort, from veterans Skylar Diggins and Nneka Ogwumike, who combined for 50 points, all the way to rookie Dominique Malonga, who showed no fear while going against Wilson.
“For us it was coming out and showing that we weren’t scared to play against them,” Diggins said in her ESPN postgame interview. “I mean, you can respect a team of that caliber who’s been great all year, who’s been great for very many years, and not fear them. I thought in the first game we played hesitant, and I was proud of the way that we responded tonight.”
Regardless of their winning streak ending, the Aces still have one of the most impressive turnarounds ever. They went from a struggling season with a lowpoint that manifested as a 53-point loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Aug. 2, to earning the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Storm have struggled with consistency, but have played in a lot of tight games. That experience showed on Tuesday.
