FSM Presents: Las Vegas Aces 2021 Season Schedule Release

Photo Credit: Las Vagas Aces

FSM Presents: Las Vegas Aces 2021 Season Schedule Release

The Las Vegas Aces released their schedule for the 2021 WNBA season. After a shortened season in which a 22-game Wubble was served, teams are returning to their home cities for a 32-game slate. Let’s take an early look at how the season will bring.

KEY GAMES:

MAY 15TH – Aces at Storm: What better way to kick the season off than a chance to avenge a finals loss? The Aces will have two tries at it when they open up their season at Seattle on May 15th and May 18th. While the departures of Alysha Clark and Natasha Howard leave the roster looking a bit different on the Seattle side, they still return 2018 WNBA MVP and 2020 Finals MVP Breanna Stewart along with the “point gawd” Sue Bird. This finals rematch will be a great test for the Aces.

MAY 21ST – Sparks at Aces: The Aces will return to Las Vegas for their home opener to face the L.A. Sparks — the Aces’ first game in the city of sin since the 2019 playoffs. L.A. will likely put forth a spirited effort in this game as the Aces swiped Chelsea Gray and Riquna Williams away from the Sparks this past offseason.

MAY 26TH – Aces at Mercury: It’ll be a battle of the bigs in Phoenix with Liz Cambage, A’ja Wilson, and Brittney Griner all sharing the court. After a revival season from one of the WNBA’s greatest, Diana Taurasi, the steadiness of Skylar Diggins-Smith, and the offseason addition of Kia Nurse, Phoenix’s star-studded starting unit looks to rival Vegas’. It’s great that we get to see this matchup early in the season while bodies are still fresh and hopefully injury-free.

JUNE 3RD – Aces at Liberty: The Aces will get their first try at 2020 No. 1 pick, Sabrina Ionescu, as she returns to action following a foot injury that sidelined her for most of the Wubble. Natasha Howard and Betnijah Laney also join the squad to bring a defensive identity to New York. This will be an entertaining clash of styles.

JUNE 5TH – Aces at Mystics: Remember that chippy 2019 semi-finals series between these two teams? The Mystics edged out the Aces in four games before moving onto the WNBA Finals and winning it. The injury to newly acquired Alysha Clark certainly hurts, but with Natasha Cloud, Ariel Atkins, and Elena Delle Donne back, the Mystics are still title contenders. It WIll be interesting to see if these two teams pick things up where they left off in 2019.

JUNE 25TH – Aces at Lynx: Did Minnesota potentially have the most significant offseason? It feels like they did. The young and talented Crystal Dangerfield and Napheesa Collier will look to build on their early-career successes. Also, former Ace Kayla McBride will be looking to haunt her former team. This could very easily be a playoff preview.

AUGUST 15TH – Mystics at Aces: We’re already aware of the history between these teams, and it won’t be the first time they will have played this season. However, after a month-long Olympic break in the schedule, this will be the first game back for both.

SEPTEMBER 2ND – Sky at Aces: When speaking of Finals previews, this is the matchup that many are expecting. The Candace Parker vs. Liz Cambage matchup is sure to live up to expectations, while the battle between pass-first point guards, Chelsea Gray and Courtney Vandersloot, will be must-see TV.

REUNIONS:

MAY 28TH – Fever at Aces: Indiana Fever guard Danielle Robinson spent her 2020 WNBA season as a member of the Las Vegas Aces. By playoffs time, she eventually won the starting guard position from fellow teammate Lindsay Allen who dawned the Aces jersey for two seasons.

JUNE 30TH – Aces at Sparks: This won’t be the first match of the season between the two squads, but it’ll be the first in which former Sparks Chelsea Gray and Riquna Williams return to the city of Los Angeles. Both women spent five seasons in L.A., which included a WNBA championship in the 2016 season.

JULY 9TH – Lynx at Aces: Sharpshooting Kayla “McBuckets” McBride will make her return to Vegas on July 9th. McBride was an all-star in the ‘18 and ‘19 seasons with the Aces while being a key contributor to the team’s rise to success in recent years.

JULY 11TH – Aces at Wings: Believe it or not, this will be the first time that Cambage has played in Dallas since being traded. She faced them twice during the 2019 season but both times were in Vegas.

AUGUST 26TH – Aces at Dream: Like Cambage, this will be McCoughtry’s first game back in Atlanta since 2019. She left Atlanta after nine seasons in which she was the WNBA’s scoring champion in two of those seasons. It should be an emotional, but feel-good, day for McCoughtry.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Photo Credit: Las Vegas Aces

THE HOME STRETCH. If the Aces want to enter the playoffs with some momentum, they’re going to have to go through a gauntlet to get there. They finish the regular season with six September games, all but one against teams who are widely expected to compete for a championship.

TRAVEL. There are noticeably more two-game series’ in the schedule this season. To limit travel, teams will play the same team twice in a matter of days before seeing a new opponent — this happens on five separate occasions for the Aces.