While the reigning champions, the Las Vegas Aces, are still going strong after qualifying for the playoffs, the Atlanta Dream and the Washington Mystics have slacked off, both ending on the wrong side of history against already-eliminated sides on Friday night in the WNBA. The Dream lost to the Portland Fire at home, as Angel Reese had her own foul troubles to worry about. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Sparks showed heart against the Mystics, who were in fine form ahead of the game, adding an important feather to their rather empty cap this season.

But Aces, being Aces, still look like a million bucks as we look at all the important events taking place on one of the final game days ahead of the FIBA Women’s World Cup break next month.

Angel Reese needs to be wary of her foul situation

The Dream’s 101-83 loss to the Fire would not have been the only negative coming out of the day for head coach Karl Smesko, as Angel Reese could have faced a one-game suspension if not for the rescinding of her eighth foul of the season.

With 8:45 left in the fourth quarter, Reese made contact with Fire guard Carla Leite. The two got tangled up after a possession, as Reese ended up pushing Leite as she was backing up to the other end of the floor. For this sequence, Reese initially received the technical foul. Had the technical stood, it would have triggered an automatic one-game suspension. But for now, Reese is safe, with her foul tally sitting at seven.

Smesko said in the postgame press conference that from his vantage point, it did not seem like a tech-worthy foul and hoped for it to be rescinded. Smesko’s intuition came true, as Reese will now be available to play the game against the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday.

“We’ll probably have a conversation (with Reese), but she’s been really good from early in the season. She’s really managed to – she went a long time without getting a technical and really never deserved one. So, she was doing a great job. As I said, what I saw didn’t look like (a technical). (It was) maybe a foul. Didn’t look like a technical, but to be fair, I haven’t looked at it on film yet.”

With the playoffs arriving soon, Reese needs to keep such situations in check, as Smesko and the Dream would not want their best player missing any important games before the final seeds get locked in. This is also not the first time Reese has been under the spotlight for being in foul trouble. Reese served out a one-game suspension last year on September 5, when she was still with the Chicago Sky.

Under WNBA rules, a player or coach is automatically suspended for one game upon receiving their eighth technical foul during the regular season. Each additional technical foul comes with a $1,500 fine, and every two additional technical fouls during the regular season result in an additional one-game suspension.

Funnily enough, this situation is highly reminiscent of what happened with Reese’s rival Caitlin Clark earlier this month. Clark picked up her eighth foul of the season after stumbling into a nearby official following a bump by Natasha Cloud during the Fever’s 90-86 win against the Sky on August 8.

With both Reese and Clark with seven technical fouls, it will be interesting to see how both qualified teams manage each player from here on.

The Las Vegas Aces performed like defending champions

The Aces are likely heading to the playoffs with no losses from here on as the remaining games are all against eliminated sides, possibly giving head coach Becky Hammon’s more room to experiment. The Aces extended their winning streak to 3 as A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young just helped them dominate the Toronto Tempo 93-83. The four-time MVP winner scored 27 points and 8 rebounds, while Young added 23 points with 8 assists.

Just three minutes into the contest, Young swished a three-pointer, and the Aces took the lead for good and never really looked back. Young made three of her four shots from outside the arc in the opening minutes of the game, as Jewell Loyd knocked down another a little more than six minutes into the contest.

Meanwhile, Wilson has not slowed down a step in pursuing her fifth (!) MVP award, and it would officially be a lock if she continues such performances in the few remaining games as well. The Aces forward had the paint on lock once again, shooting 10-of-15 from inside the arc that provided the Aces a 36-28 overall advantage.

The only area in which the Tempo matched the Aces was from long range. Head coach Sandy Brondello’s side shot 10-of-28 from outside the arc, compared to Wilson and co. shooting 10-of-33.

Regardless, the Tempo has been going through a rough patch with injuries this season. Three key players are still sidelined, which includes Marina Mabrey with her adductor injury, Brittney Sykes with her foot injury, and Aneesah Morrow’s knee injury. With injuries already depleting the roster, World Cup obligations further strained the Tempo. Toronto had three players officially on suspended contracts due to World Cup obligations.

“I mean, it is what it is, when you’re going to be down players. Unfortunately, we’ve had a lot of injuries, so it’s just a next-player mentality,” head coach Sandy Brondello said after the game in Las Vegas.

Nyara Sabally (Germany), Julie Allemand (Belgium), and Maria Conde (Spain) all headed to Germany this week to join their national squads. Due to so many absences, the WNBA granted the Tempo a 7-day emergency hardship contract. They have signed Kiana Williams to a 7-day extreme hardship contract, while activating the contracts of development players Ornella Bankole and Zaay Green.

“I thought Kiana did a really good job. We went through a few more things today. I just said don’t overthink it. Go out there and play hard. You’re not going to know everything, but just communicate,’” Brondello said.

With this, the Aces and the Tempo end their back-to-backs. The Tempo have one more game to play against the Phoenix Mercury before they head to the World Cup break, while the Aces will next play on September 17 against the Seattle Storm.

Sparks’ second-half heroics were enough to topple the Mystics

The Los Angeles Sparks were down 17 at one point in their game against the Washington Mystics, but gave head coach Lynne Roberts the perfect birthday present as the team made a massive comeback to win 88-82, snapping the Mystics’ three-game win streak.

“Yeah, we were down 17, I think at one point. But these guys have done that all season,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said.

“We have not packed it in. We’ve had some great wins. We’ve had some tough losses but I have not seen them quit. And I think it’s a great team. Even though we were down big, I felt like we were still, and I know that sounds silly, but that we were in it like we were okay. Washington’s a good team and they’ve got a good balanced roster.”

The Sparks’ comeback was led by the soon-to-be-retired Nneka Ogwumike, who scored 24 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals. Rae Burrell played a momentum-shifting game as she scored 12 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter. Cameron Brink was not far from the action, adding 13 points to the tally off the bench.

Following the game, Ogwumike also gave credit to the tough Mystics frontcourt that gave them a lot of trouble, but admitted that Brink and Dearica Hamby did a good job of neutralizing attacks.

“This front court is one to deal with. And so it’s a lot. And it’s like when you turn around, there’s two more that come off the bench. And so we wanted to do our best to make things challenging.”

“In my experience, when you have a frontcourt like that, which I was kind of trying to tell (Cameron Brink) and (Dearica Hamby), you’re not going to stop everything, but you just want every shot for it to be like a mental process. You know, you don’t want anything to feel second nature. And so I thought we were doing a good job,” Ogwumike said.

The Sparks, alongside their momentum, definitely took advantage of a tired Mystics group, who are in their second game of a back-to-back. Roberts’ defensive tactics worked out pretty well in the second half, restricting the Mystics to 31 points and 36 percent shooting in the second half.

The Sparks’ win meant bragging rights for Roberts and co., who are already eliminated from the playoffs but extended their record to 14-25. The comeback was another moment Ogwumike can take into her bag full of memories, as her WNBA career is coming to an end.

The Los Angeles Sparks will play one more game on Sunday against the Seattle Storm before they head to the World Cup break, while the Mystics need to recalibrate what went wrong and make ideal changes during the break.