How the Liberty reached the WNBA Finals and what went wrong for the Aces

A WNBA three-peat will not happen this season. The New York Liberty eliminated the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday, ending the Aces’ quest for a third consecutive championship. The Liberty will have home-court advantage in the WNBA Finals, which opens Thursday, and will face Tuesday’s winner in the deciding Game 5 between the Minnesota Lynx and the Connecticut Sun.

After the Liberty’s 76-62 victory in Game 4 on Sunday in Las Vegas to clinch the semifinal series, New York’s players praised the two-time defending champion.

Jonquel Jones even referred to passing the Aces in the playoffs as feeling like a “rite of passage.” It says how good Las Vegas has been the past two seasons, and how the Aces set the bar for other teams to try to match. Las Vegas beat the Connecticut Sun in 2022 and New York in 2023, both in four games. The core Aces — A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young — return in 2024 to try to become just the second WNBA team to win at least three consecutive titles. (Houston won its fourth straight in 1997-2000.)

Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon, who took over the team in 2022, said this was the Aces’ toughest year, because it’s hard to stay hungry when you’re coming off consecutive championships. Las Vegas was without Gray (foot injury) until June 19, and the Aces were 6-6 when he returned. They lost a few games this year the past two versions of the Aces probably do not have.

All of that adds up to a No. 4 seed, which means they have to meet No.1 New York in the semifinals instead of the WNBA Finals like last year.

“It hurts right now, and I promise, it’s going to hurt tomorrow, probably worse,” Hammon said. “But you have to build a habit and you have to work in a way that you believe you deserve to win. At the end of the day, I think our shortcomings come out a little bit.

“We have some big ones to build on. You don’t have it every year.”

The Aces have the best player in the league this season in Wilson, who averaged a WNBA record 26.9 points and won her third MVP. He just turned 28 in August and is signed with Las Vegas until 2025, as are Gray and Young. Plum is a free agent.

“What I always try to send to this team, especially with our guards,” said Hammon of Gray, Plum and Young, “is the success that is intertwined with each other. Individual greatness comes from them being great together.

We will see if the whole group returns for 2025, but now ESPN looks at what happened to keep the Aces from another title in 2024, how New York advanced and how Connecticut beat Minnesota on Sunday to extend the semifinal series.

Liberty won the best-of-five series 3-1

Why can’t the Aces get back to the Finals?

Sunday was just a symptom of why the Aces couldn’t add to their back-to-back titles. The root cause can be traced back to the beginning of the regular season, where they were only the 4th seed in the playoffs and had to face the Liberty in the semifinals. The loss of the Phoenix Mercury, Atlanta Dream and Los Angeles Sparks in the first month put the Aces in a hole that ultimately resulted in the Fourth Finish. This means seeing the Liberty one round faster than a year ago.

With the addition of 6-foot-4 Leonie Fiebich to go with the tall 6-4 Breanna Stewart and 6-6 Jonquel Jones, New York was a bad matchup for Las Vegas. Sunday’s game showed that. The Las Vegas guard struggled with Fiebich, who made the difference on defense. Gray and Young combined for a total of 11 points and Plum scored five after halftime. The league’s top scoring team hit 62 on the season on Sunday. The Aces’ two lowest-scoring games of the season are also against New York. — Cream

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A’ja Wilson addressed the difficulty of the three-peat as the Aces were eliminated

A’ja Wilson looks back at the challenges of the season as the Aces’ quest for a three-peat WNBA championship falls short.

Wilson has had a phenomenal season, but why isn’t it enough for a title?

Two things: Overall, the Aces aren’t as efficient as they were last season, and the Liberty are better. It’s like several scenarios we’ve seen before in the WNBA. For example, Maya Moore’s 2014 MVP season for Minnesota was excellent. But Lynx, despite having won two of the three previous championships, they are not the best overall team in the league this year; Phoenix is ​​there. And Mercury went on to win the title.

Wilson did everything he could this season; he is unanimous MVP without question. But…

“We didn’t do it shooting-wise,” Hammon said of Sunday’s game (the Aces shot 32.8% from the field), a comment that could apply all season.

“But I’m very proud of this group because we’ve changed the way this league is played. We’re speeding up and speeding up. I think it’s good for our game. You see a lot of good individual performances. It’s a fun way to play that’s the core four in the group we — Voepel

Why did the Liberty dominate the Aces this season?

Last year, the Liberty and Aces met nine times, counting the regular season, the Commissioner’s Cup final and the WNBA Finals. Las Vegas won five and New York four. This year, New York went 6-1 against the Aces.

As Charlie said, adding Fiebich really helped New York, especially because he is ready for whatever role coach Sandy Brondello puts him in, whether it’s starting or coming off the bench.

“I know, that was communicated before (the season),” said Fiebich, a 24-year-old from Germany who is playing in her first WNBA season but with a lot of professional experience. “I feel like coaches know I can defend. And I’m a shooter, and I find gaps and what the team needs from game to game.”

New York is a better, more confident, more cohesive and deeper defensive team this season than last. And also became particularly revved to face the Aces. Aside from the Game 3 semifinal series loss, New York played well in all games against Las Vegas. — Voepel

Knee-jerk Projections: What Will Las Vegas Look Like in 2025?

There’s no reason to believe the Aces can’t return to championship levels if Plum is re-signed. After losing in this semifinal, it’s possible that Las Vegas will bounce back, which Hammon believes has been lacking the most this season.

It might be asking a lot for Wilson to repeat the season he just had, but he is in the prime of his career, able to carry a team for a game, for a few or a season. Young and Plum were also in their peak years. But the team lacks consistency this year.

Chelsea Gray will likely be healthy for the entire season. His lingering leg injuries were a major part of the Aces’ uneven regular season play. The Aces front office may need to identify some of their younger players in order to become role players. More energy on defense will be a much-needed improvement if Las Vegas is to return to the Finals in 2025. — Cream

The best-of-five series is 2-2

How did Connecticut beat Minnesota in Game 4?

The Sun’s guard played well, led by Ty Harris, who had his second-highest point total of the season with 20. It was his most since scoring 23 against Washington on June 27.

Harris injured his ankle in the Suns’ playoff opener against Indiana on Sept. 22 and did not play in the second game of the series or the first game of the semifinals. He played sparingly and didn’t score in Games 2 and 3 against Minnesota. He shot 7-of-11 on Sunday — including four 3-pointers — and his defensive effectiveness was critical for the Suns.

The same can be said for DiJonai Carrington, who had 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting for Connecticut. — Voepel

What changed things in the second half for the Sun?

Defense was the Sun’s strength all season, and credit must go to Stephanie White and the Connecticut coaching staff for the adjustments they made to the defense at halftime. In the critical third quarter — when the Sun outscored the Lynx 25-13 and erased a seven-point deficit — he did two things at once that weren’t easy to do: limit Naphessa Collier and shoot the Lynx’s 3-pointer. .

Collier went without a field goal for the final 7:30 of the third. Minnesota, the league’s most accurate 3-point shooting team, didn’t make a shot from beyond the arc all quarter and went scoreless from 3-point range until just 2:16 remained in the game. That’s after making seven 3-pointers in the first half. — Cream

What will be key in Tuesday’s Game 5 in Minneapolis?

It’s been a close series, with a 10-point margin going into Sunday at the most of the four games. The Sun shot 53.7% from the field in Game 4, their best in the series. It is uncharacteristic for Minnesota to allow, but if the Sun can copy that performance, they can pull out the series.

Collier has been impressive all postseason, including 29 points and 13 rebounds Sunday. As Charlie said, Sun were effective defensively against Collier for the opening key in Game 4, which can give him some confidence for Tuesday’s matchup, despite his great final numbers.

At 16-4, the Lynx tied the Liberty for the best record at home during the regular season. They will have a clear edge at Target Center. But the Sun had won in Minneapolis in Game 1, so they knew it was possible. — Voepel