Liberty discover Las Vegas kept Aces up its sleeve for WNBA Finals
Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) drives against Las Vegas Aces center Kiah Stokes (41) during the first half in Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023, in Las Vegas. Credit: AP/John Locher
It doesn’t matter that the Liberty won this thing called the Commissioner’s Cup.
It doesn’t matter that the Liberty clobbered the Las Vegas Aces twice in the regular season. Or that Sabrina Ionescu set a three-point shooting record and got a signature shoe from Nike. Or that Breanna Stewart won her second MVP. Or that general manager Jonathan Kolb won executive of the year for putting together this superteam.
The only thing that matters Sunday afternoon is that the Liberty find a way to eke out a win and make the WNBA Finals into the competitive series that fans had been hoping for all season.
It’s win or go home for the Liberty at the Barclays Center as the Aces head into Game 3 with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
“We believe in one another,” Ionescu said. “Even down 0-2, there’s no wavering in the belief we have for one another and what we’re trying to accomplish here. We’re home court. We play really well at home with this fan base. We understand what is at stake.”
The Aces are looking to become the first team since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001 and 2002 to win back-to-back WNBA titles. The Liberty are still hoping to win the franchise's first championship. However, no WNBA team has ever come back from a 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five series.
The series was supposed to be better than this. The Liberty had lost only five times at home all season. They were 2-0 against the Aces in their two regular season games at the Barclays Center, winning one game by 29 points and another by 9.
Now, it appears that the Aces were holding back a few things in those two late regular-season meetings. Not only have they gone 7-0 in the playoffs, they won the first two games of the Finals by a total of 45 points.
“There were some things during the course of the season, adjustments we knew we wanted to make, but we didn’t pull the record because we knew we wanted to save them [for the playoffs],” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “It’s not like some magical thing. But little tweaks we kept in the bag for a bigger-picture approach.”
One thing the Aces might have kept under wraps is the relentless play of their guards.
In Game 1, the trio of Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray scored 72 of their team’s 99 points. In Game 2, the scored 61 points and set the tone early by helping the team jump out to a 14-2 lead from which the Liberty could never recover.
Liberty starting guards Ionescu and 34-year-old Courtney Vandersloot have both struggled to hit shots and at times looked lost on defense. In the first two games, Ionescu has averaged 8.5 points while shooting 4-for-17 and 3-for-12 from three-point range. Betnijah Laney meanwhile has averaged 9.4 points while shooting 7-for-20 overall and 2-12 from beyond the arc.
Those problems have bled over into the rest of the team.
Stewart has taken a lot of Heat for being out played by A’ja Wilson, who finished third behind her in MVP voting but is having a much better postseason.
In the playoffs, Wilson is averaging 24.9 points and 11.3 rebounds per game while Stewart is averaging 19.3 points and 9.5 rebounds, and through eight postseason games, she is shooting just 36.4% from the field. Against Vegas, Stewart has struggled offensively, shooting 2-for-10 from three-point range and 14-for-36 overall.
“I think she’s got to be more aggressive,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “I think she’s settling for jump shots when you need to put the onus on them and get to the rim and make them foul her.
Yet, it’s hard to be aggressive when the guards aren’t enough threat to spread the defense. Stewart has been the best player in the league over the past eight years. Yet, until this year, she played her entire career with Sue Bird, whom many consider to be the best guard in league history.
No matter, Stewart believes it’s up to her to take charge in Game 2.
“[It’s about] setting the tone, understanding that I’ve been in these situations before and this is when I want to do my best,” she said. “I’m going to take what the defense gives me, but I’m also going to impose my will a little bit on both ends.”
There’s nothing Liberty fans would like to see more — especially if it leads to a Game 4.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
