Las Vegas Aces pursue fourth championship in five years as season tips off Saturday

HENDERSON (KTNV) — The Las Vegas Aces are chasing their second consecutive championship and fourth in the last five seasons.

Ahead of tip-off for the new season, the defending champions say they are more focused on their team mantra: the standard.

"The standard means showing up for each other and for us, keeping the main thing the main thing no matter the noise may bring, no matter what's going on on the outside," Aces center A'ja Wilson said. "We got to lock in for 40 minutes when we come into this gym."

WATCH: A'ja Wilson and Becky Hammon speak ahead of the season opener

The Aces enter the season with all of their starters returning, but they are not the only team loaded with talent.

A historic 100-plus players entered free agency this off season, creating various "super teams" with a chance at the title.

"Where does the power settle in — is Vegas the team to beat, do the New York Liberty lock in and reload with their big three or do some of these teams like Dallas and Atlanta and Minnesota because they've been able to reshuffle their free agency — are they competitive?" ESPN's Holly Rowe said.

This week, the Aces are working to improve defensively after getting out rebounded by the Dallas Wings in their preseason game.

"Defense isn't where we want it to be, we know that's a key to our success is how good we are on the defensive end," head coach Becky Hammon said. "So we've spent a lot of time working it. We haven't much time on offense to be honest — the offense will come, it's like the dessert."

The Aces tip off their season at home on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in a WNBA Finals rematch against the Phoenix Mercury.

WATCH: Aces 2025 championship parade down the Las Vegas Strip

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