The Las Vegas Aces visit the Phoenix Mercury on Friday in a WNBA showdown with major playoff seeding implications on the line.

As the WNBA went into the All-Star break, one of the biggest questions looming over the league was what was wrong with the Aces, who won back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023 but looked lost and frustrated at 12-12. They looked like they could even be in danger of not making the postseason for the first time since 2018.