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We're now just about a quarter of the way through the 2022 WNBA season, and two teams have separated themselves from the rest of the league: the Las Vegas Aces and Connecticut Sun. On Tuesday night, they'll meet for the first time this season in what could be one of the best games this summer. 

Under new head coach Becky Hammon, the Aces are finally playing modern offensive basketball that emphasizes pace, ball movement and 3-pointers. Their outside shooting and ability to play fast without turning it over has made them nearly impossible to stop; they have the best (110.7 offensive rating) and most efficient (53.6 eFG percentage) offense in the league. 

The Sun, on the other hand, are the same old Sun. Their identity is built around defense and rebounding, and even without Jasmine Thomas, who is out for the season with a torn ACL, they make life miserable for opponents. They control the paint, turn teams over and get out for easy baskets on the other end. Their 23 points per game off turnovers is the best mark in the league. 

Heading into Tuesday's showdown, here's a look at each team's rank in the league in some key categories:

Record

Aces: 1st (8-1)

Sun: 2nd (6-2)

Offensive rating

Aces: 1st (110.7)

Sun: 2nd (110.2)

Defensive rating

Aces: 5th (96.0)

Sun: 2nd (93.3)

Tuesday night's contest is set for 9 p.m. ET on ESPN. This potential Finals preview is one you don't want to miss. Now onto this week's Power Rankings:

1. Las Vegas Aces (8-1) -- Last week No. 1

Even with only one game this week, the Aces still managed to make a statement as they went on the road to Chicago and easily handled the defending champion Sky to improve to 8-1 for the first time in franchise history. During that contest, A'ja Wilson became the seventh-fastest player to reach 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds in WNBA history. Dearica Hamby also joined that club earlier this month, and those two are currently the only players in the league averaging a double-double. 

2. Connecticut Sun (6-2) -- Last week No. 2

The week got off to a rough start for the Sun, as they learned veteran guard Jasmine Thomas would be out for the season with a torn ACL, and suffered a bizarre second-half collapse against the Wings. But despite those setbacks, they've won six of their last seven games, boast the best net rating in the league at plus-16.9 and are all alone in second place. Thomas' injury is not ideal, but the Sun are still formidable. 

3. Washington Mystics (6-3) -- Last week No. 4

Over the weekend, we saw the short-term downside of the Mystics' plan to play it safe with Elena Delle Donne, as they lost a winnable game to the Sun in part because they didn't have their superstar in action. That was always going to be part of the deal for the Mystics this summer, though. They're playing the long-game, and are happy to sacrifice regular-season games and spots in the standings in order to have EDD in the playoffs. 

4. Seattle Storm (5-3) -- Last week No. 5

Breanna Stewart, who is now leading the league in both scoring and steals, has been terrific since her return to the lineup, and the Storm have won four in a row to improve to 5-3 on the season. The only bad news for the Storm right now is that they can't get their full lineup together. Sue Bird, Stephanie Talbot and Ezi Magbegor are all currently in the health and safety protocols, making that five players who have missed time this season due to COVID-19.

5. Chicago Sky (4-3) -- Last week No. 3

Two steps forward, one step back for the Sky, who just haven't been able to really get rolling. Kahleah Copper has returned from overseas, but she hasn't found her rhythm yet, nor has Allie Quigley who is shooting a putrid 16.7 percent from 3-point land. The Sky will be fine, but this hasn't been a particularly inspiring start to the season. Perhaps a Finals rematch against the Mercury on Tuesday will give them a spark. 

6. Atlanta Dream (5-3) -- Last week No. 6

The Dream ended a two-game losing streak in style with a dominant 27-point win over the Mercury that was their biggest margin of victory since 2015. While they still struggle to score at times, in large part because they turn the ball over on nearly a quarter of their possessions, their defense continues to be excellent. They're still first in the league in opponent field goal percentage (37.2) and defensive rating (90.9). 

7. Dallas Wings (5-3) -- Last week No. 7

The Wings spent this week in Connecticut, where they split a pair of games with the Sun -- a solid trip despite the loss being by 31 points. Unfortunately, things won't get any easier for them, as five of their next six games are against the Storm and Aces. This stretch will be a real sink or swim test for the young Wings, who are off to an impressive start, but have not been defending super well as of late. 

8. Los Angeles Sparks (4-6) -- Last week No. 9

There's still a lot of concerns about this Sparks team, but their five-game losing streak finally came to an end, and they've now won two of their last three to improve to 4-6 on the season. Perhaps the most encouraging recent sign is that Chennedy Carter, who got off to a slow start with her new team, averaged 13.6 points and four assists on 58.1 percent shooting this week. If she can continue playing well that will give them a much-needed offensive boost. 

9. Indiana Fever (3-7) -- Last week No. 10

This was quite a week for the Fever. First, they fired head coach Marianne Stanley after two-plus seasons with the club, and appointed Carlos Knox as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Then, No. 2 overall pick NaLyssa Smith returned from an ankle injury and they put together their best offensive performance of the season in a win over the Sparks that snapped a five-game losing streak. 

10. Phoenix Mercury (2-6) -- Last week No. 8

The Mercury are teetering on the brink of disaster. They've lost five games in a row to drop down to 10th place, and all but one of those defeats have been by double digits. It could get even worse this week with the Sky and Sun on the docket. There are plenty of problems in Phoenix, but the biggest is that they cannot guard anyone. It's a layup line to the rim, with opponents shooting 64.7 percent in the restricted area, and their 108.4 defensive rating is the worst in the league. 

11. Minnesota Lynx (2-7) -- Last week No. 11

The Lynx nearly pulled off a 17-point comeback against the Sparks over the weekend for their first winning streak of the season, but lost on a last-second bucket by Nneka Oguwmike -- something this franchise is all too familiar with. It was fitting, in a way, that the game ended in that fashion with so many players from the 2016 Finals in attendance for Seimone Augustus jersey retirement day. The Lynx legend, who now coaches for the Sparks, saw her No. 33 raised to the rafters in a touching ceremony. 

12. New York Liberty (1-7) -- Last week No. 12

In 2020, the extremely young, injury-riddled bubble Liberty went 2-20 and finished with the second-worst net rating in WNBA history at minus-17.2. Through eight games this season, this group has a minus-17.7 net rating. It's hard to imagine things will remain quite this bad, especially as the schedule lightens up a bit over the next few weeks, but the Liberty are off to a historically bad start.