WNBA Power Rankings: A'ja Wilson, Jewell Loyd fueling Aces' late-season turnaround

Less than a month ago, the Las Vegas Aces lost by 53 points -- the second-largest defeat ever -- to the Minnesota Lynx to fall below .500. After six consecutive trips to at least the semifinals, three Finals appearances and two titles, it seemed as though the Aces' incredible run was coming to an end. 

Instead, they've used that result as a catalyst to fuel an incredible late-season turnaround. The Aces haven't lost since, and their seven-game winning streak has propelled them up into fifth place in the standings at 21-14. The Aces are percentage points behind the Phoenix Mercury for the No. 4 seed and just 1 ½ games behind the Atlanta Dream for No. 2. 

In the span of a few weeks, the Aces have gone from worrying about holding on to one of the final playoff spots to having a real chance to earn homecourt advantage in the first round. This week, they showed they could compete with the league's top teams by beating the New York Liberty and Mercury. 

Late last week, we dove into some of the underlying reasons for the Aces' recent success, including Jewell Loyd's turnaround and their improvement in hustle categories. But, of course, the driving force has always been A'ja Wilson, and she's been incredible lately. During the winning streak, she's averaging 26.1 points, 13.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.4 blocks. 

Aces' late-season surge: Las Vegas turns things around, but can A'ja Wilson and Co. make run in WNBA playoffs?

Jack Maloney

The Aces still have some work to do to prove that they're a true title contender, but no matter what happens down the stretch, no one will be signing up to play them in the first round of the playoffs. 

Here are CBS Sports' latest WNBA Power Rankings:

WNBA Power Rankings

1	Lynx
Due to a schedule quirk, the Lynx had a full six days off this week and just one game. They used the rest to their advantage and beat the Liberty for the third time this season to extend their winning streak to six games. Napheesa Collier remains sidelined, and there's no reason for the Lynx to rush her back now that their lead in the race for the No. 1 seed is up to 6 ½ games.
2	Dream
The Dream's six-game winning streak -- two shy of the franchise record -- came to an end with a narrow loss to the Storm, but they quickly bounced back with a dominant win over the Valkyries to climb into second place. Rhyne Howard's return from a knee injury has given them a big boost. She was ejected in her first game back, but since then is averaging 20 points and 4.7 assists on 41.7% from 3-point range.
3	Aces
The Aces continued their remarkable late-season turnaround with three more wins this week and have now won seven in a row to surge into fifth place. Most importantly, they showed they could compete with other top teams this week with victories over the Liberty and Mercury. During the winning streak, A'ja Wilson is averaging 26.1 points, 13.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.4 blocks.
4	Liberty
The Liberty were 17-6 and 2 ½ games up on the Mercury in the race for the No. 2 seed when Breanna Stewart went down with a right knee bone bruise on July 26. They're 4-7 since then and are now in third place, ½ a game behind the Dream. For the season they have a plus-10.4 net rating with Stewart on the court and a plus-0.6 net rating without her. Her return cannot come soon enough.
5	Mercury
Alyssa Thomas continues to make triple-double history. She recorded her fifth of the season in a huge win over the Storm on Sunday to become the first player in league history to have five-plus triple-doubles in multiple seasons. Here's how remarkable that feat is: no other WNBA player has more than four triple-doubles in their career. For the season, Thomas is up to 16.2 points, 8.6 rebounds and 9.1 assists per game.
6	Valkyries
The Valkyries took care of business against the teams around them in the playoff race, and even after their loss to the Dream sit in seventh place with a two-game lead on the Sparks (ninth) and Mystics (10th). Add in the tiebreaker they own over both teams and that's essentially a three-game advantage. But while the Valkyries are in great shape to become the first expansion team to make the playoffs in their inaugural season, they do have the second-toughest remaining schedule.
7	Fever
The Fever appeared to be heading toward a third consecutive loss to a lottery-bound opponent Sunday until they pulled off the largest comeback in franchise history to beat the Sun thanks to a career-high-tying 38 points from Kelsey Mitchell. Unfortunately, they lost Sophie Cunningham to what looks like a serious knee injury in the process. She'll undergo an MRI to determine the severity, but for the time being they're now without Caitlin Clark, Aari McDonald, Sydney Colson and Cunningham.
8	Sparks
Since the All-Star break, the Sparks are second in the league in offensive rating (112.1) and last in defensive rating (111.8). It's hard to remain consistent playing that level of defense, and sure enough the Sparks have alternated wins and losses in their last six games. That's been enough to continue gaining ground on the free-falling Storm, though, and the Sparks are just ½ a game back of the final playoff spot.
9	Mystics
The Mystics keep winning games that they would be better off losing. After holding off the Sparks -- a team they should want to make the playoffs for lottery odds reasons -- they've won three of their last four and are suddenly just ½ a game out of the eighth place. Sonia Citron isn't going to win Rookie of the Year, but she continues to impress. She's on pace to become the fourth rookie ever to average at least 15 points and shoot at least 40% from 3-point range.
10	Storm
The Storm's inability to win close games continues to be a major problem. Seven of the Storm's eight games during this 1-7 skid have been decided by four points or fewer, and they've lost six of them. For the season, the Storm have played a league-leading 24 clutch games -- score within five points with five or fewer minutes remaining -- and are 11-13 in them. During clutch minutes the Storm are shooting a league-worst 21.2% from 3-point range.
11	Wings
Maddy Siegrist tied her career-high with 22 points in a win over the Fever on Tuesday, then set a new career-high with 23 points in a loss to the Aces on Sunday. Injuries derailed her season again, but she's quietly averaging 11.8 points and 4.6 rebounds -- both career-highs -- on 50.6% shooting in 17 appearances. She looks like a legitimate part of the Wings' young core moving forward.
12	Sun
The Sun were well on their way to winning consecutive games for the first time all season, but blew a 21-point lead to the Fever on Sunday. In defeat, Lelia Lacan dished out a career-high 14 assists, Saniya Rivers blocked a career-high five shots and Aneesah Morrow recorded her fourth double-double. That trio's development has been the lone bright spot for the Sun this summer.
13	Sky
The Sky's disastrous season continued Friday with a 31-point loss to the Valkyries, their 12th defeat in their last 13 games. They've now lost four games by at least 30 points this season; the rest of the league combined has 10 such losses. While they have no chance to make the playoffs, they should at least get Angel Reese back soon. The All-Star forward hasn't played since July 29 due to a back injury but participated in the non-contact portion of practice on Sunday per the Chicago Sun-Times and is ramping back up for a return before the end of the season.