WNBA: MVP candidates meet as Minnesota Lynx take on Las Vegas Aces

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There’s only one WNBA game being played this Saturday, Aug. 2, but it’ll be a good one. The league-leading Minnesota Lynx (23-5) will visit the Las Vegas Aces (14-13) in a matchup that will be televised nationally on ABC; tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.

The Lynx have been the cream of the crop for the majority of the 2025 season, sitting comfortably atop the WNBA standings and looking like a team that’s hungry to avenge its loss in last year’s Finals. Whereas most of the league’s top teams have either stagnated or gotten worse, Minnesota has improved. The question now seems less about how many teams are true contenders and more about how many of them will be able to go up against the Lynx in a playoff series.

The Aces are one of those teams. Las Vegas is in the midst of a mediocre season, falling from near-dynasty status to one of the also-rans hanging around near the bottom of the postseason threshold. Their roster is still talented, starring a generational player in A’ja Wilson and some big-name complementary pieces that have historically been able to get the job done when the games matter most.

Even so, the Aces will enter Saturday’s game as the underdogs. The Lynx have already defeated them twice this season thanks to their tried-and-true formula of aggressive defense and selfless offense, and they’ll have momentum on their side after an inspiring win over the defending champion New York Liberty. Here’s what we’ll be watching for in the Lynx’ and Aces’ third meeting of 2025.

MVP candidates Wilson and Collier square off

Any time two superstars take the court, the price of admission has already been paid. The Aces’ A’ja Wilson and the Lynx’s Napheesa Collier, considered by many to be the two best players in the WNBA, will meet again on Saturday.

Wilson may be the league’s reigning Most Valuable Player, having put up historical statistics in 2024, but Collier appears to be coming for her crown. A popular preseason choice for the WNBA’s most prestigious award, Collier is putting together another incredible year, leading the league in scoring (23.8 points per game) on a career-best 53.7 percent shooting from the field. That’s in addition to her usual stellar defense: Collier is averaging 1.8 steals and a career-high 1.7 blocks per game, and given that the Lynx are playing the best defense in the WNBA (95.9 points allowed per 100 possessions), there’s a chance she earns a second-straight Defensive Player of the Year award, too.

That’s not to say that Wilson isn’t still deserving of even more hardware. She’s averaging 22.1 points, 9.1 rebounds and a league-leading 2.4 blocks per game—the fifth season in a row she’s led the WNBA in that category—and she’s been every bit of the undeniable force that fans have grown accustomed to watching over the years.

Team performance often factors into individual awards, though, and whereas the Aces as a whole have been one of the WNBA’s biggest disappointments, the Lynx have been the best of the best. Minnesota is currently enjoying a five-game lead over the second-place New York Liberty, while Las Vegas is merely on the cusp of playoff contention, in danger of missing the postseason for the first time since 2018.

It stands to reason, then, that an upset win over the Lynx would not only help the Aces in the standings, but would also benefit Wilson in her quest to win an unprecedented fourth MVP award. If the Lynx take care of business against the Aces yet again, there won’t be much of a case left against Collier.

Do the Aces have an answer for the Lynx backcourt?

The Wilson vs. Collier matchup won’t be the only determining factor in Saturday’s game. In order to win, the Aces will need to have a strong game plan against Courtney Williams and the rest of the Lynx guards.

Williams, who made her second All-Star team as a member of the Lynx in 2025, is the linchpin of Minnesota’s offense. She’s averaging a career-high 6.4 assists per game, and she was crucial in both of Minnesota’s previous wins over Las Vegas earlier in the season, scoring a team-high 20 points (albeit on inefficient shooting) on June 17 and 23 points on July 25.

The Aces were known for high-octane guard play during their back-to-back championship runs in 2022 and 2023, and while that may not be the case anymore—Kelsey Plum was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks last offseason and Chelsea Gray has had an uncharacteristically up-and-down year—they still have one of the WNBA’s better perimeter players in Jackie Young. Young isn’t a typical primary ball handler, but she drives winning in many ways, as evidenced by the triple-double she recently recorded in an Aces win over the Los Angeles Sparks.

It’s clear that a supernova performance from Wilson is no longer enough to carry the Aces to sustained success, and that rings especially true against a well-rounded team like Minnesota. They’ll need Young to keep up her strong play too in order to upset the championship hopefuls.