NEW YORK — The Las Vegas Aces’ starting five was unrecognizable Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn.

Instead of A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young taking the center circle for the tipoff, they sat at the end of the bench as Jewell Loyd, Dana Evans and Brianna Turner replaced them on the court. At first glance, it was a potentially curious decision considering the stage — a nationally televised ABC matchup against rival New York Liberty — and the importance of every game with regard to playoff seeding.

Aces coach Becky Hammon couldn’t care less about those factors. Her team rolled into town at the tail end of a five-game road trip and less than 24 hours after a loss to the top-ranked Minnesota Lynx. As a result, the Aces looked like a shell of themselves in Sunday’s 111-71 loss to the Liberty.

Load management has become an increasingly important topic as the WNBA adds games to its calendar, and Hammon isn’t shying away from it.

“The health and safety of players comes first,” Hammon said. “Wherever we end up, we end up, and we’ll play whatever hand is dealt to us. To me, this was just a bigger picture type (of) scenario, so you take the ‘L,’ understanding that it pays dividends on the back end.”

The last time Wilson, Gray and Young missed the same game was the 2024 regular-season finale against the Dallas Wings, which the Aces won handily 98-84.

The league’s new collective bargaining agreement, which was ratified after the WNBA released its 2026 regular-season schedule, states that the league will “make reasonable and good faith efforts”  to provide at least 20 hours between the scheduled start of a team’s first game of a back-to-back and the scheduled start of its second game. However, the WNBA follows a guideline, like the NBA, that gives teams a minimum of 22 hours between back-to-back games, and travel must be limited to no more than one time zone.

The Aces’ game against the Lynx tipped off Saturday at 1 p.m. (ET), and Sunday’s game in Brooklyn was a 12:30 p.m. start. The Lynx also played the second half of a back-to-back Sunday, but Minnesota’s home game against the Wings started at 3:30 p.m.

“Not going to put (players) in any kind of jeopardy to get hurt when we’ve been expending a lot of energy and traveling a lot of miles back and forth, crisscrossing the country,” Hammon said of the decision to rest three starters. “It is what it is. I know these are big matchups, and these are what people want to see, but you should ensure that it’s fair.”

The league’s schedule has steadily expanded in recent years, from 32 games in 2021 to 36 in 2022, and then 40 in 2023 and 2024. This season, like last season, includes 44 games in the regular season. In 2027, the schedule is set to grow again to 50 games.

“Obviously, we want to be able to play as many games as possible, win as many games as possible,” Liberty forward Jonquel Jones said. “But also with the schedule ramping up, I don’t know, maybe we need a little bit more time. We were in a similar position earlier, where we had a lot of games in a very short period of time. It’s really tough to gauge that. You want to play in front of the fans, you want people that pay for the tickets to be able to see you play, but you also want to be smart and make sure you’re resting your body and not putting yourself in a position where you can get injured.”

Jones said the Liberty players were “a little bit disappointed” that the Aces’ three leading scorers weren’t available Sunday as they were looking forward to the marquee matchup and seeing it as a test of New York’s standing in the league as the regular season winds down.

“Obviously, they have to do what’s right for their team,” Jones said. “They have to do what’s right for their bodies. But as competitors, we really wanted to match up against them.”

The Liberty took an immediate lead off a Sabrina Ionescu 3-pointer Sunday and never trailed.

With 3:48 left in the third quarter, New York was up 16 points and appeared in control, so Liberty coach Chris DeMarco subbed out all of his starters except Breanna Stewart. Minutes later, when the lead ballooned to 21, Stewart also took a seat on the bench. The Liberty reserves finished the game from there.

Marine Johannes took flight, leading the Liberty with a career-high 27 points off the bench while shooting 7 of 13 on 3-pointers. Jones added 15 points and eight rebounds, and Stewart finished with 14 points. Ionescu had five points on 2-of-10 shooting.

The entire Aces starting five combined for just 19 points. Their bench carried the load, led by Ta’Niya Latson’s 20 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

“This was a great opportunity for the bench to get some minutes and get some burn,” Latson said. “It’s going to give us a lot of experience, and hopefully when our name is called, we’re ready.”

After Sunday’s loss, the Aces (22-11) are third in the standings, four games behind the league-leading Lynx (26-7). If the season ended on Sunday, they would have a first-round face-off against the Liberty, who jumped to sixth with the win.

As news of Don Nelson’s death spread Sunday, tributes rushed in from former players, colleagues, teams and executives for the longtime NBA coach.

Mark Cuban, Dirk Nowitzki, Luka Dončić, Stephen Curry and NBA commissioner Adam Silver were among the many to express their love and appreciation after Nelson’s family revealed he died Sunday morning at 86.

One of the winningest coaches in NBA history and a five-time champion as a player with the Boston Celtics, Nelson had a profound impact on the league over more than five decades. And that impact could be seen in the many testimonials that hit social media Sunday, including one from Nowitzki that credited Nelson for changing his career.

“You didn’t just draft me. You believed in me,” Nowitzki wrote Sunday in a post on X. “You saw things in my game before I ever realized I could do them. I’ve said it a million times and I will always say it: I don’t think my career could have turned out how it did without you being my first coach and giving me the freedom to play my game. I can only say THANK YOU. For everything.”

Nelson was the head coach for four franchises during his NBA coaching career that spanned 31 seasons. He spent 11 seasons each with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors, as well as eight seasons with the Dallas Mavericks. Nelson also coached the 1995-96 season with the New York Knicks. As a player, Nelson spent 11 of his 14 seasons with the Boston Celtics. He played his rookie season with the Chicago Zephyrs (1962-63), then spent the next two seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.

“Don Nelson revolutionized NBA basketball through his fearlessness, ingenuity and deep conviction,” Silver said in a statement released by the NBA. “… He brought an unmistakable personality to everything he did, and his impact on our sport will continue to be felt for generations.”

Don Nelson’s success as a Hall of Fame Coach is so vast, that it could overshadow his playing career, but it would be a mistake to do so. A favorite of Red Auerbach’s, “Nellie” was a tough and reliable all-around player whose tenacity and ability to “think the game” was on full… pic.twitter.com/cWJOIxso3c

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) August 9, 2026

The Mavericks issued a statement Sunday afternoon, calling Nelson “a true original” whose impact on the game “will endure.”

“Nellie helped transform this franchise, bringing an innovative spirit, a belief in doing things differently and, most importantly, a winning culture to Dallas,” Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont said in the statement. “His influence can be seen throughout Mavericks history and across the NBA today.”

Nelson coached in Dallas from 1997 to 2005, and was instrumental in the Mavericks acquiring Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash in separate draft-night trades in 1998.

Luka Dončić didn’t play for Nelson in Dallas, but the Los Angeles Lakers guard, who spent seven seasons with the Mavericks before being traded to Los Angeles, was a fan of the coach and how he promoted international players.

It’s a sad day for basketball with the passing of Don Nelson.

I have so much respect for him and everything he did for the game, especially the way he believed in international players. I’m grateful for the time I spent with him.

Thinking of the entire Nelson family today. I… pic.twitter.com/GqIobWNB9i

— Luka Dončić (@lukadoncic) August 9, 2026

Nelson got started as a coach with the Milwaukee Bucks, winning two of his three NBA Coach of the Year awards while leading the franchise to seven consecutive division titles in the 1980s.

“We extend our deepest sympathies to Nellie’s family, friends, former players, colleagues, fans and all who knew him,” the Bucks’ statement read. “He will always be a treasured part of Bucks history and one of the most influential figures the game has ever known.”

The Warriors organization called him “one of the most innovative and influential coaches in the history of the NBA.” Several players past and present shared their thoughts on the legendary coach, including Stephen Curry.

“One of the big reasons I was drafted by the Warriors was because of Don Nelson,” Curry said in a statement. “The story is he never liked rookies, but from Day 1 he challenged me and gave me an opportunity to be my best self on the court.

“He taught me a lot during our one season together, and I’ll never forget the night he became the winningest coach in NBA history in Minnesota. We were so happy for him. He had an immeasurable impact on the sport and will go down as one of the greatest minds in the history of the game.”

Nelson coached Run TMC — the high-scoring trio of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin — at Golden State from 1989-91. Hardaway said Nelson was “ahead of his time and there was nobody else like him.” Richmond appreciated Nelson’s personality and passion and said he “made the game fun.” Mullin talked about how Nelson made an impact on his life “that went far beyond basketball.”

“He cared about me as a person first, and I’ll never forget the support, honesty and belief he showed me during a difficult time in my life,” Mullin said. “We shared so much together over the years, and I’ll always be grateful for the role he played in my life and career. Nellie was more than a coach to me; he was someone who truly cared.”

Added Steve Kerr, “He consistently challenged conventional thinking, experimented with different lineups and styles of play and saw possibilities in the game that others often did not. So much of what is now commonplace in the modern NBA can be traced back to the way Nellie approached the game. His impact on the Warriors is just as significant.”

Others from around the NBA also sent their condolences while praising Nelson as a coach.

Nellie almost brought me to Dallas in 2002 when I was a restricted free agent. We’d nod and check in with each other here and there over the years after that. It was always love.

As far as hoops, he saw stuff on a basketball court that the rest of us wouldn’t catch onto for…

— Michael Redd (@MichaelRedd_) August 9, 2026