Five. Point. Margin. That’s how tight this battle was. From the jump, the Chicago Sky showed fight, but titans don’t flinch—especially not the Las Vegas Aces. They left everything on the hardwood, clawing out a 79–74 escape that smells of playoff heat.
The Narrative Flow
- Chicago kept pace early, with Angel Reese likely anchoring the paint with her relentless rebounding, as we’ve seen all season—she’s averaging the league’s busiest boards.
- Las Vegas leaned on their signature: tough defense, elite execution in crunch time, and the quiet presence of A’ja Wilson—who’s been putting up MVP-caliber numbers all summer long.
- As the clock ticked down, both teams traded swings. But the Aces’ composure and experience? That’s what tipped the scale.
Why It Matters
For the Sky, this is more than just another loss—it’s another proof point of that final leap they still haven’t made. They’re scrappy, they battle, but the Aces are just built for those heavy-lifting moments.
For Las Vegas, it’s more ammunition. Another hard-earned W on the road. Another badge of resilience ahead of postseason chaos. They’re not just surviving—they’re sending a message.
Clutch Crunch Take
This wasn’t basketball fluff—it was boxing match drama disguised as a WNBA game. The Aces ground out a win with poise, the Sky threw punches, and in the final round, Vegas landed the harder ones.
Aces win, but the Sky? They’re dangerous as heck—and still breathing in their ears.
(Image credits: Lorie Shaull from St Paul, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Image cropped)