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THE LINEUP

Finals MVP A’ja Wilson (R) and coach Becky Hammon share a moment after the Aces won the W crown for the second straight year — something that hadn’t been done since 2002. | NBAE via Getty Images

• Aces win back-2-back WNBA titles
• Poole Party in NYC 4️⃣1️⃣
• West contenders meet Thursday ⭐
• Bring It : Jokic + +
• Stats: Parity at 26-year high?

WNBA FINALS: ACES GO BACK TO BACK

Finals MVP A’ja Wilson (R) and coach Becky Hammon share a moment after the Aces won the W crown for the second straight year — something that hadn’t been done since 2002. | NBAE via Getty Images

Without their starting point guard Chelsea Gray. Without their starting center Kiah Stokes. 

Playing in an arena they had not won in 3 tries this season.

The Las Vegas Aces prevailed with a gritty 70-69 win over the New York Liberty to win the 2023 WNBA Finals, 3-1.

• Back to Back: The Aces become the 1st back-to-back WNBA champion since the LA Sparks (2001-02). The only other team to do it: the Houston Comets (1997-2000)
• Finals MVP: A’ja Wilson was enormous with 24 points and 16 rebounds as she carried the short-handed Aces
• Clutch Time: Jackie Young scored 9 of her 16 points in the 4th quarter
• Comeback W: Trailing by 12 in the 3rd quarter, the Aces outscored the Liberty 38-25 to close the game
• Team Game: Sydney Colson (game-high +17 in 15 minutes, after playing 7 total series minutes before Game 4) echoed Steph Curry: “Night, Night”
• All She Does is Win: That’s 2 seasons and 2 titles for head coach Becky Hammon. She becomes the 3rd coach in NBA/WNBA history to win back-to-back championships in their first 2 seasons as head coach (Van Chancellor, Comets, 1997-2000 and Johnny Kundla, Lakers in 1949, 1950)
• Liberty Had a Shot: New York scored the final 5 points and had the final possession with a chance to win it, but a last second 3 was no good
• Last Laugh: Wilson finished 3rd in regular season MVP voting, but was the best player on the court in the Finals, averaging 21.0 PTS, 12.5 REB, 1.3 BLK in the series

LAST NIGHT: STEPH CALLS GAME

Knew it from the release. | NBAE

The last time Steph Curry faced the Kings, he dropped 50 points on the road in Game 7 to end Sacramento’s season.

Fast forward 5 months, and he’s still haunting the Dubs’ NorCal rival.

• Curry scored 16 of his 30 points in the final 5 minutes – capped off with a game-winning 30-foot 3-pointer with six seconds left – as they Warriors rallied from 18 points down for the 116-115 win 
• The Kings and Warriors have met twice this preseason – the first went to OT, and this one was an instant classic. If these 2 games are any indication, next Friday’s regular-season matchup is an absolute can’t-miss

Jordan Poole put himself in rare company Wednesday. | NBAE via Getty Images

Jordan Poole exploded for 41 points – tied for the most by a Wizard in a preseason game this century – in Washington’s 131-106 win over New York.

• He matches Michael Jordan, who scored 41 against New Jersey on Oct. 20, 2001 
• NY had no answer for Poole, who shot 10-19 FG, 6-12 3P, 15-16 FT in 27 minutes and sat the 4th quarter 
• Poole climbs to 3rd in preseason scoring (23.3 ppg) with 1 final game on Friday 
• Julius Randle posted a 20-10 game, and his poster game looks regular season ready 
• Kyle Kuzma may have recorded a DNP, but his new hairstyle came to play

Here’s what you need to know from the other 2 games:

• Spurs 117, Rockets 103: Devin Vassell had himself a 1st half, with 25 points and 5 3-pointers for San Antonio. Victor Wembanyama finished with 15 points, 6 boards, 2 triples, 2 blocks and 1 nutmeg

• Nets 107, Heat 104: Lonnie Walker scored half of his 22 points and knocked down 3 of his 4 triples in the 4th quarter, while Cam Thomas added 14 points, including this 4-point play

More games to keep an eye on Wednesday night:

• Nets at Heat (7:30 pm ET, NBA TV): Of the 178 players that have attempted 10+ 3s this preseason, 3 of the top 4 players in 3P% are in this game: Miami’s Jamal Cain (70%), Brooklyn’s Spencer Dinwiddie (64.3%) and Cam Thomas (61.5%)

• Rockets at Spurs (8 pm ET, League Pass): After missing Monday’s game against the Rockets, Victor Wembanyama is expected to play when the teams meet in San Antonio. This should deliver a fun matchup with Jabari Smith Jr. (15 PPG, 8.3 RPG this preseason)

• WNBA Finals, Game 4 (8 pm ET, ESPN): The Liberty look to push the series to a winner-take-all Game 5. See Section 4 for a full preview ⬇️

Reminder: Lineups change quickly in the preseason. Stay up to date at the NBA App.

3. WEST CONTENDERS TANGLE IN FINAL TUNE-UP ⭐️

Can the Suns challenge the Nuggets in the West? | NBAE via Getty Images

NBA GMs picked two teams above all others to challenge Denver in the West: the Suns and Lakers. 

They meet Thursday (10 ET, NBA TV) to close out their preseason, before both teams play on opening night — L.A. vs Denver at 7:30 pm ET, Phoenix vs. Golden State at 10 pm ET (both on TNT).

• Phoenix was Jamal Crawford’s pick to not just emerge from the West but win the title

• In a league full of dynamic duos, including LA’s LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Phoenix went all-in with a big 3 of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal

• James and Durant have not faced one another since Christmas Day 2018. Will their first meeting in nearly 5 years come in a preseason game?

Ant Edwards and Austin Reaves, coming off starring roles for USA Basketball. | NBAE via Getty Images

Thursday also features 2 of the stars of Team USA’s FIBA World Cup team: L.A.’s Austin Reaves and Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, with Ant’s Wolves taking on the Bulls (8 pm ET, League Pass) 

• Reaves signed a new contract, shined as part of Team USA with fans in the Philippines imitating his “I’m Him” viral moment back to him

• Edwards signed a 5-year extension, becoming the face of the Wolves franchise and was touted as “The guy” by Team USA coach Steve Kerr. He was voted most likely to have a breakout season in the GM Survey, but will do so in a new number

More games to follow on Thursday:

• Nuggets @ Clippers (10 pm ET, League Pass): The defending champs close the preseason in LA before getting ready for Tuesday’s ring night

• Celtics @ Hornets (7 pm ET, NBA TV): One final look at Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis getting accustomed to Boston before the games count

• Pistons @ Thunder (8 pm ET, League Pass): Before he’s set to make his official NBA debut next Wednesday, Chet Holmgren gets in one last preseason run

• Jazz @ Kings (10 pm ET, League Pass): The Beam is off for the preseason, but the Kings are still looking for their first W before their season opener

Reminder: Lineups change quickly in the preseason. Stay up to date at the NBA App.

JOKIC SCOUTING HORSES GOES VIRAL. WHAT’S NEXT?

Nikola Jokic’s love of horses and horse racing is well documented – he even rode in on a trotter when the Nuggets surprised him with a visit to Serbia to present him his 2022 MVP trophy.

But seeing Jokic scouting horses on his mobile phone as the Nuggets were getting ready for practice in the 1st episode of Bring It Home was on another level.

• Jamal Murray: “Who’s that?”
• Jokic: “I’m scouting horses.”
• Jamal: “You’re scouting? How many do you have?”
• Jokic: “Right now, like, 7, 8… Uh, 10, 12.”

One of our favorite clips from Episode 4, dropping today? Three veterans, with 43 years of experience and 0 titles between them up to that point, just letting loose. Stay tuned.

A few more fun moments from around the league this week:

• Left on Read: Consider yourself lucky if Kings G Malik Monk responds to your text message (Domas just made the cut)

• ‘Almond Baby?’: The Mavs play the Whisper Challenge … and fail in hilarious fashion

• Coach Did What?!: Watch the Suns players react to head coach Frank Vogel’s appearance on Late Night with David Letterman as a kid

• NY Dishes: We may need a Bodega Boys reunion to get to the bottom of these blind rankings of NYC foods by Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart

• 15 LBS of Muscle: Which member of the Hawks made the most gains in the weight room this offseason?

• Jr. NBA Week: Take a look at these 3 NBA rookies when they participated in 2018 Jr. NBA Global Championship: Toronto’s Gradey Dick with the drive, OKC’s Cason Wallace with the block and buzzer-beater, and Indiana’s Jarace Walker in the dunk contest

5. A NEW LEVEL OF PARITY?

Last season saw both postseason races famously, epically come down to the wire – with 26 of 30 teams still in the hunt in the final month, and most of the West up for grabs in the final week. The parity only continued in the Playoffs. 

• For the 1st time since 2001, no team won 60 games

• For the 1st time in history, the Conference Semifinals featured every seed from 1-8 across both conferences

• 2 Play-In teams made deep Playoff runs: Lakers to the West Finals, Heat to the Finals – where they became the 2nd 8th seed ever in the Finals

The league also saw something that hasn’t happened in at least a quarter-century. 

Stat To Know: Net Rating. Never heard of it? It’s simply your PTS per 100 possessions minus the PTS you give up. If you score 120 points per 100 and give up 110, your NetRtg is 10. It was first tracked in 1996-97.

Back to the milestone. Take a look at that chart above. That dramatic drop you see for the 2022-23 season? Here’s what it means.

• Red Line: The Playoffs’ #1 and #16 seeds had the smallest NetRtg difference since 1996-97. Those teams were closer together than ever.
• Blue Line: The league leader’s Net Rating. Boston led the NBA with a mark of +6.7, the lowest Net Rating for a league leader since 1996-97

• True Shooting: The smallest difference (5.7%) between the league leader (Sixers at 60.8%) and league low (Hornets at 55.1%) in True Shooting Percentage, excluding the 2019-20 pandemic-affected season

These are all indicators that the disparity between the best teams in the league and those near the bottom of the standings was closer than ever last year.

So, as a new season begins, with “this is our year” vibes across the league – will we see something similar in 2023-24?

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