New York Liberty has not shid away from talking about the “scars” left over from last season’s loss in the WNBA Finals to the Las Vegas Aces. But in the 2024 playoffs on Sunday, the top-seeded Liberty took an important first step toward exorcising that demon.
New York nearly led wire-to-wire to win Game 1 of the semifinals 87-77 in a blockbuster rematch against the Aces in front of a crowd of 14,015. Breanna Stewart, the 2023 regular season MVP, and Sabrina Ionescu combined for 55 Liberty points, while Kelsey Plum and 2024 MVP A’ja Wilson combined for 45 points to pace the Aces.
The game was like a statement for the Liberty: New York won 3-0 against the Aces in the regular season, although Chelsea Gray missed the first game and Wilson was sidelined in the third.
But on Sunday, the Liberty looked like the best team in the league, positioned better than last year to win the franchise’s first championship. New York led by double figures for a great stretch of the game and jumped ahead by as much as 18 in the third. While Las Vegas made several runs to get within striking distance, the Aces never got closer than eight points in the fourth.
How big is the Game 1 result? Throughout WNBA postseason history, teams that take a 1-0 lead in a best-of-five series win 77% of the time (27-8 record). But the Aces aren’t a regular playoff team, as the two-time defending champion has a three-time MVP — and before Sunday had lost just one game since late August.
Las Vegas previously came back from a 0-1 deficit in the 2022 semifinals against the Seattle Storm, then was led by Stewart in his final season before leaving for New York.
ESPN takes a look at how the Liberty took Game 1 and what the Aces should do to even the series there.
How did New York catch MVP A’ja Wilson?
For most players, Wilson’s Game 1 stat line — 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting — would have been a remarkable performance. For the three-time MVP, who set the WNBA record by averaging 26.9 PPG during the regular season, it was a quiet outing.
Wilson’s 16 field goal attempts are tied for his fewest in a playoff game since Game 1 of last year’s Finals, and four of those came in the final 4 minutes with the Liberty in command. Wilson had to work hard to make nine. Of 16 shots, 14 were contested (87.5%), according to ESPN Stats & Information tracking, compared to 80% of Wilson’s attempts against New York in 2023.
Based on Second Spectrum tracking, Wilson’s measured shot quality of 47% — the effective field goal percentage expected of an average shooter based on location and type of attempt and distance to the nearest defender — is fifth lowest overall. this season’s game.
The Liberty use 6-foot-6 Jonquel Jones as their primary defender on Wilson, making it difficult for him to score in the post. And when Wilson looked to take a turnaround jumper, Breanna Stewart — 6-4 with a reported 6-10 wingspan — came over to provide a late assist and disrupt the shot.
To his credit, Wilson took advantage of the attention to dish out 5 assists, his most in a playoff game since 2022. But the Aces will have to find other ways to set up Wilson the rest of the series to get MVP-level production back. — Kevin Pelton
What worked so well for Liberty on offense?
The Big Three are the same. While New York’s depth has generally improved this season, its superstars in Stewart, Ionescu and Jones did the most damage on Sunday. The trio scored 68 points, Stewart and Ionescu both shooting 60% or better from the field.
Stewart was unstoppable in the first half with 20 points, taking advantage of mismatches when the wrong guard switched to her (a problem Becky Hammon brought up postgame) and when going up against the undersized Alysha Clark. In the first half, Stewart went 4-for-5 against his former Storm teammate. According to ESPN tracking, Stewart overall sank 6 of 11 contested shots, 6 of 8 open shots and scored 10 points in transition.
Jones fought in the lane all night, dominating the glass and helping New York come away with a 42-38 edge in scoring in the paint. Ionescu started strong with 3-for-3 shooting in the first quarter and then used an 8-point spurt in the fourth — featuring a pair of deep 3-pointers in quick succession — to essentially put away the Aces. Ionescu’s strong postseason following a post-Olympic drop in efficiency was huge for the Liberty’s championship prospects.
They will not keep up at the same pace all game long, but New York’s 28-point first quarter, where he assisted 10 of 11 baskets and 7 fast-break points, set the tone for what the team was able to accomplish. most of the evening. — Alexa Philippou
What should Las Vegas do Tuesday to get off to an 0-2 start?
The biggest problem for the Aces can’t be solved between now and Tuesday: They don’t have a proper way to match up with Stewart and Jones. New York’s all-star forwards combined for 47 points Sunday. That’s tough for Las Vegas to deal with.
Playing 6-3 Kiah Stokes to guard Jones makes sense from the size, but Stokes is responsible for the offense (1.4 PPG) he allows New York to constantly double-team Wilson. Unless Stokes can lock down Jones — hard to do against a player of Jones’ calibre; he has 32 double-doubles since joining the Liberty before last season — Stokes plays hard for anything more than a point minute. With him on the bench, Gray or Jackie Young were sometimes matched up with Jones. Or when Wilson guarded Jones, Clark drew Stewart’s assignment. All of these scenarios put the Aces at a significant disadvantage on defense.
The solution for Las Vegas must come on offense. It’s overly simplistic to say the Aces should outscore the Liberty, but they should score more than 77 points. The offense needs to be better. Las Vegas needs to do more in transition. It starts with more balanced production from the backcourt. The Aces need more than 4 points and 1 assist from Gray. Playmaking and making big plays were an important part of the last two championships.
Plum was outstanding on Sunday with 24 points, but Young should be another factor as well. He finished with 17 points, but needed 16 shots to get there. Its impact on the game is minimal. He didn’t do much of a defense against Ionescu either. All three guards must be significant contributors if Las Vegas is going to even this series. Gray needs to play more like the version of him that came in the first round series against Seattle. — Charlie Creme
