It's common for NBA rosters not to feature the best possible players because of development, but the gap between New York's recent draft picks and the veterans the Knicks have on training camp contracts is notable. Garrison Mathews might be their ninth-best player and isn't guaranteed a spot.

On the eve of the WNBA Finals, our team-written preview of Aces-Mercury with contributions from @kendra-andrews.bsky.social and @michaelvoepelespn.bsky.social and a split panel of picks for the series: www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

With Quentin Grimes in there today, we've finally graded all of the most notable signings from NBA free agency this year, though the file will continue to grow with extensions (including Nikola Jovic, soon): www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

Re-racking my news story from after midnight Pacific on the Aces taking a different path to their third WNBA Finals trip in Becky Hammon's four years as coach.

For the night owls, my news story on the Aces' very different path to a third Finals in the past four years: www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

Fifth time it's happened in any game over the last couple of seasons - and three of those five were Wilson/Young. #WNBA

The Las Vegas Aces have outlasted the resilient Indiana Fever, winning 107-98 in overtime for the team's third Finals appearance in the last four years and fourth in the last six. The Aces will host the Phoenix Mercury starting Friday in the first ever best-of-seven WNBA Finals.

Per ESPN Research, A'ja Wilson and Jackie Young are the first pair of teammates in WNBA history with at least 30 points in the same playoff game.

Bizarre stat: A'ja Wilson and Jackie Young combined for 61 of the Aces' 86 points in regulation and have none of their 13 through the first 3:51 of overtime. Chelsea Gray has scored eight and Jewell Loyd five.

Quiet subplot: It's been a long time since we've seen NaLyssa Smith out there.

Overtime in Las Vegas with a chance to play the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA Finals on the line. The Fever will be without Aliyah Boston, Chloe Bibby, Caitlin Clark, Sydney Colson, Sophie Cunningham, Damiris Dantas, Aari McDonald and Kelsey Mitchell.

By contrast, the Aces have two

Per ESPN Research, A'ja Wilson has become the first player in WNBA history with consecutive games of at least 25 points, three blocks and three steals in either the regular season or the playoffs. In a related story, there's still a quarter left to play.

There's something in the Indianpolis water when it comes to resilient pro basketball teams.

Lost in the scare with Kelsey Mitchell being helped to the locker room after an extended period on the ground: Aliyah Boston was called for her fifth foul just before Mitchell went down after the play. On the plus side, Chelsea Gray has returned to the game for Las Vegas.

Chelsea Gray hobbled back to the Las Vegas locker room after Odyssey Sims fouled her going through a screen and stepped on her right foot, which appeared to roll over.

Becky Hammon got T'd up during the timeout and I can't say I'm surprised. The Aces got a break when Jewell Loyd's early foul wasn't upgraded. Since then, a lot of borderline calls have gone Indiana's direction.

Foul trouble is becoming an issue for the Aces. NaLyssa Smith just picked up her third foul midway through the second quarter and will presumably sit the rest of the half, while Jewell Loyd and Jackie Young have two apiece.

Pivotal early challenge by the Aces' coaching staff of a shooting foul sending Kesley Mitchell to the line. After a predictably long review, it was ruled unsuccessful, meaning Las Vegas loses a timeout and its ability to challenge the rest of the night.

In The House for Game 5 of Aces-Fever with the second spot in the WNBA Finals to be decided tonight.

Here at Blazers media day, where if you want to understand their offseason, team president of business operations Dewayne Hankins said Portland ranked fifth in the NBA in new season tickets sold this summer. Rookie Yang Hansen was just one part of that excitement.

Courtney Williams dribbled away from Monique Akoa Makani trying to foul her, which probably would have been a transition take foul and given the Lynx a free throw and the ball instead of what became an empty possession.

Teamed up with @kendra-andrews.bsky.social, Charlie Creme and @michaelvoepelespn.bsky.social to discuss what to expect in today's Lynx-Mercury Game 4, but weirdly my note about how Minnesota would start the game on a 10-1 run seems to have been edited out: www.espn.com/wnba/story?i...

Grading Al Horford signing with the Warriors, a piece I started almost three months ago: www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

There's rightfully been a lot of focus on the NBA experience coming into the WNBA coaching ranks, and that will be a storyline if the Finals end up Aces-Mercury. But Stephanie White has done as good a job on the sidelines as anyone this season.

There is a good matchup for Satou Sabally on the court for the Lynx. The problem that Phoenix presents is that it's Napheesa Collier and she has to guard Alyssa Thomas instead.

Took a look at how the largest trade in WNBA history, completed in February, has helped shape the semifinals round of the playoffs, including talking to Mercury GM Nick U'Ren about how his team's key part of the deal came together: www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

Y’all I wrote about the StudBudz and it was just as fun as I imagined www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

With this season's #NBArank countdown beginning today, I wrote about 10 players who didn't make the list but might next season: www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

Liberty brass considered nothing short of a championship to be a success this season, sources told ESPN's Alexa Philippou, and the team decided not to exercise its option to bring Brondello back. www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

Teamed up with @katiebarnes.bsky.social and @michaelvoepelespn.bsky.social to discuss why the Liberty moved on from Sandy Brondello, who could be next on the sidelines in New York and where Brondello might land (Seattle?): www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

Spoke Monday to Storm GM Talisa Rhea, who said that the team's hope to go further in the playoffs was a factor in the decision to move on from head coach Noelle Quinn, whose contract was up after this season. News story: www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

Teamed up with Charlie Creme to discuss how the Fever went into Vegas and upset the Aces in Game 1 on Sunday, plus what it means for the rest of their semifinals series going into essentially a must-win Game 2 Tuesday: www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

Maybe they'll come back and win, and they'd still be favored in the series with a loss, but I remain unconvinced that the Aces are as good as they looked during their winning streak. Too many defensive breakdowns for this time of year.

I'd compare Noelle Quinn's Storm tenure to Nate McMillan's time as Sonics head coach. Both were recently removed from playing with many of the players they coached and were developing their philosophy on the job. As with McMillan in Portland, I think Quinn's next team will get a better version.

The biggest news from Storm exit interviews is that Ezi Magbegor won't return to Europe this winter. "I think just going back-to-back seasons has been a lot the last few years," she said. "Just taking time to kind of reset, spend time at home with my family, which I'm really excited about."

Storm guard Lexie Brown declined to take questions about the WNBA during exit interviews, instead making a statement emphasizing that she's healthy after missing 28 games in 2023 due to what was later diagnosed as Crohn's disease and the last 24 games of 2024. Brown was available for 40 of 44 games.

Of the eight players who saw meaningful action for the Mercury tonight, six were new to the team this season. This was one of the great roster rebuilds in WNBA history.

As a reminder, the winner of Liberty-Mercury tonight is going to have less than 42 hours to travel to Minnesota and prep for Game 1 on Sunday. Huge edge for the Lynx they've earned as the top seed and the only team to sweep their first-round series.

An underrated element of the Mercury's success is how many players they have that play really hard all the time. That comparison has not flattered the Liberty.

I don't recognize the Emma Meesseman we've seen in this series. She's shooting 1-of-9 in the two games in Phoenix.

Contributed a graph and analysis of how A'ja Wilson caught and passed Napheesa Collier in my wins above replacement player metric to @michaelvoepelespn.bsky.social's look at the timeline of this season's MVP race: www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

"We work so hard, and I'm just so proud of our group for staying with it," Lexie Hull said. "I mean, it's just insane that we're playing in the semifinals. We believed it, but there's so many people out there that didn't. And so we've got another series." www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

Vegas would have had to use a timeout before the last two minutes either way, but will be interesting to see whether not having a challenge ends up mattering for the Aces.

A'ja Wilson is 8-of-15 from the field. Everybody else on the two teams is a combined 22-of-62 (35%).

That foul on the perimeter is the kind you don't want from Dominique Malonga since she's inevitably going to pick some up battling with A'ja Wilson in the paint.

Indiana becomes the first lower seed to win a first-round series since the WNBA went back to series in 2022.

Joined @seeratsohi.bsky.social on the Ringer WNBA Show to discuss what we saw in the four Game 2s the last two nights and look ahead to three deciding games on tap tonight and tomorrow: www.theringer.com/podcasts/the...

There is a lot of terrible aggregation out there, but I think this one is a new low for my work. In July, I wrote about Myles Turner signing with the Bucks. You can read it here (it's not even paywalled anymore): www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

Something that particularly irks me about the overwrought response to Adam Silver's comments on the cost of national TV streaming options where he referenced "highlights": it never comes up that the idea of watching national games on a daily basis is a purely modern notion.