Liberty top Aces in Game 1 of WNBA semifinals as Breanna Stewart leads way with 34 points

When the Liberty arrived at Barclays Center on Sunday for Game 1 of Liberty-Las Vegas II, they were looking to show they aren’t the same group that got flattened in the first two games and fell in four against the Aces in the WNBA Finals last October.

“Everyone talks about the scar from last year, but [we want to show] really how much we’ve grown this season,” Breanna Stewart said Saturday, a day before scoring 34 points in the Liberty’s series-opening 87-77 victory.

The Liberty began this best-of-five semifinal rematch with huge motivation, a lot of size and length, a deeper roster, the experience of going through that previous playoff run and improved chemistry. And they owned the home-court advantage, unlike last postseason.

The two-time defending champion Aces arrived with the same formidable Core Four — three-time MVP A’ja Wilson and the exceptional backcourt of Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young.

But the top-seeded Liberty swept the three-game regular-season series on their way to the league’s best record (32-8), and they looked very formidable themselves in striking first against fourth-seeded Las Vegas in front of an ultra-loud, white towel-waving sellout crowd of 14,015.

“We’re the No. 1 team,” coach Sandy Brondello said. “I think from Day One we talked about [last year] and then we put it behind us. So what are we going to do with it? You can see we’ve grown so much as a team . . . We have a lot of confidence.”

Game 2 is set for Tuesday night at Barclays. “It’s do-or-die,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “You have to win Game 2.”

Stewart set a WNBA postseason record with her 35th straight double-digit scoring game. Sabrina Ionescu added 21 points and Jonquel Jones had 13 points and 12 rebounds. She also had the primary responsibility of guarding Wilson and held her, with some help, to a manageable 21 points and six rebounds.

“We’re hungry,” Stewart said.

She didn’t like how the last postseason went for her and might be the hungriest. “Last time wasn’t my most proudest,” she said, “but I’m going to continue to be better now.”

Las Vegas wasn’t going to be its proudest of Game 1. “They just kicked our [butt] in every area of the game, I thought,” Hammon said. “They came out and punched us in the nose.”

The Liberty, who never trailed, led by 10 at halftime and went up 62-44 in the third quarter on Stewart’s three-pointer.

Plum (24 points) hit two three-pointers to trigger a 12-0 run that brought the Aces within 62-56, but the Liberty pushed it to 11 before taking a 71-62 advantage into the fourth quarter.

“I think we handled their runs really well,” Ionescu said.

Ionescu nailed a straight-on three-pointer from 31 feet away with 6:20 left to make it 81-68. After Plum’s free throw, Stewart drilled a short jumper for a 14-point margin. It didn’t get closer than eight from there.

“I think their length bothered us,” Hammon said.

Their shooting, too.

The Liberty shot 68.8% in taking a 28-21 lead after one quarter. It shrunk to two in the second period, but they rebuilt it to 48-38 at the intermission behind Stewart’s 20 points.

And the crowd was loving the show.

“You have these fans that are behind you that make it really hard to play here for other teams,” Ionescu said. “For us, we use that for motivation.”