Get ready for epic WNBA Finals matchup between Aces, Liberty - ESPN

Upsets and surprises in any sport's playoffs are always fun. But a predictable matchup also has merit when it sets up a meeting of heavyweights. That's what we're getting in the 2023 WNBA Finals, where the No. 1 seed Las Vegas Aces will meet the No. 2 seed New York Liberty.

The best-of-five series opens Sunday at Las Vegas' Michelob Ultra Arena (3 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN App). The Aces will host Games 1, 2 and, if necessary, 5.

The talent for Las Vegas and New York resulted in both squads being referred to as superteams as early as February during free agency. Neither team likes the moniker, but it has proved accurate as the Aces finished the regular season first at 34-6, and the Liberty second at 32-8.

The Aces are the defending WNBA champions, led by 2022 MVP A'ja Wilson, and are appearing in their third Finals in the past four years. The Liberty, led by 2023 MVP Breanna Stewart, will play for the WNBA title for the fifth time — but the last was 21 years ago, when New York fell to the Los Angeles Sparks in the 2002 Finals.

Stewart was 8 years old then and Wilson 6. Now widely considered the top two women's basketball players in the world and both two-time MVPs, they will face off on the biggest stage. And they have stars around them, including 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones of the Liberty. The Finals will feature five former No. 1 WNBA draft picks: Stewart, Wilson, Las Vegas' Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young and New York's Sabrina Ionescu.

Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon was a guard on that 2002 runner-up Liberty team, while New York coach Sandy Brondello was also still playing in the WNBA then. This will be the first time two former WNBA players meet in the league Finals as head coaches.

«It's great. Former players getting the