Aces, Liberty provide highly anticipated heavyweight showdown in WNBA Finals

The Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty are poised to tip off their highly anticipated WNBA Finals showdown, a matchup of the preseason favourites projected to battle for the title.

Both teams feature lineups comprised of MVPs, all-stars and future Hall of Famers that dominated the regular season. With the title on the line, games are expected to be more competitive than the regular season blowouts — the closest outcome was nine points when they met.

"This is kind of like our March Madness and anything goes," Las Vegas forward A'ja Wilson said. "I don't think you'll see a lot of lopsided games because both teams are great and we're playing at the right time. When we saw each other, some [players] were revving up, some were getting close to it, some were figuring it out. But I think now we're all on the same page of where we are as a team."

History will be made no matter which team wins.

The reigning champion Aces could become the first team to repeat since the Los Angeles Sparks did it 21 years ago. A championship also would further validate one of the top regular seasons in league history, putting them record books along with those Sparks teams, the Houston Comets who won four titles in a row and the Detroit Shock who won three times in six years. Las Vegas set an WNBA record with 34 regular-season victories this season.

"They're a handful," Aces coach Becky Hammon said. "You're not going to stop them with just one person."

Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said only so much can be gleaned from the regular-season meetings.

"The playoffs go to another level," Brondello said. "This is for the championship. We'll have to have a little bit more urgency and little bit more desperation in everything that we do. Every moment