Las Vegas Aces face a brutal 4-games-in-7-days road grind, capped by Lynx-Liberty back-to-back

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NEW YORK (AP) — It's a busy week for the Las Vegas Aces, who play four road games in seven days, including a back-to-back pair in Minnesota on Saturday and then New York a day later.

The Aces will have to make the nearly 1,200-mile trek to face the Liberty less than 24 hours after facing the No. 1 team in the league — the Lynx. Minnesota also has a back-to-back this weekend, but it's home for both games.

Las Vegas' trip is about the worst a team could have to deal with as far as back-to-back goes. The league won't make teams travel two times zones or have less than 22 hours between games, according to a person familiar with scheduling. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about it.

Back-to-backs came up in collective bargaining agreement talks this past spring, but it was more about having teams have an equal number of them as opposed to travel.

Everyone has to go through tough stretches in their schedule. Before their current five-game road trip that started with a loss in Chicago, Las Vegas had played only six games in the previous 19 days with the All-Star break thrown in.

Las Vegas currently is sitting tied for second place in the standings, four games behind Minnesota.

It doesn't get easier for the Aces, who face Washington in consecutive games at home right after they get back.

Minnesota regained the top spot in the power poll as Golden State faltered with two losses in its past three games. The Lynx have won 10 straight overall, the franchise's longest winning streak since 2016. Indiana, Las Vegas and Golden State were next. The Valkyries had held the top spot the last few weeks. Atlanta, Washington and Dallas followed Golden State. New York was eighth and Chicago ninth. Phoenix, Los Angeles and Portland came in after the Sky. Toronto, Connecticut and Seattle rounded out the poll.

The WNBA trade deadline passed with only two deals taking place. Kelsey Plum left Los Angeles for Phoenix and Toronto acquired Aneesah Morrow from the Connecticut Sun. The Mercury are sitting way out of the playoff hunt right now, but Plum can provide an instant offensive boost to them. Plum is a free agent after this season, so the final five weeks of the season will also serve as a chance for the Mercury to convince her to stay next season and beyond.

Kelsey Mitchell has been nearly unstoppable lately, scoring more than 20 points in 14 consecutive games — the second longest streak in WNBA history behind only A'ja Wilson's 15 in a row. Mitchell did all she could on Sunday to try to help the Fever beat the Lynx, scoring 37 points, but it wasn't enough as they lost 108-100.

Her incredible run has left teammate Caitlin Clark in awe.

“It’s really fun and obviously it’s makes my life easy, so I just try to give her the rock,” Clark said after the loss to the Lynx. “It’s like every time she shoots it, it goes in and just the pace that she plays with, she always puts the defense in some stress. Like it’s really fun to witness up close.”

Shakira Austin of Washington was the AP player of the week. The forward averaged 21.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists to help the Mystics win all of their games over the last two weeks. Other players receiving votes included A'ja Wilson of Las Vegas, Sabrina Ionescu of New York and Olivia Miles of Minnesota.

Las Vegas at Minnesota, Saturday. The top two teams in the league will square off with the Aces looking to move closer to the Lynx in the standings.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball