The Las Vegas Aces aren’t going down that easily.
After becoming the first defending WNBA champions to fall behind 2-0 in a series, the Aces responded with a 95-81 Game 3 win over the New York Liberty. Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday in Vegas at a time to be determined.
All it took was a 17-2 run to end the third quarter and energize a sold-out Michelob Ultra Arena crowd. After an impossibly close first half, in which neither team built a lead of more than four points, the Aces kept the defense in check for 10 minutes. By the end of the frame, the Liberty had scored six points and committed five turnovers.
It was the lowest scoring quarter in Aces playoff history. New York had its starters out of the game midway through the fourth quarter, but the Aces’ stars stayed in a little longer. They left 90-68, with the message sent.
Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum led the way on offense for the Aces with a total of 44 points, six assists and just two turnovers, while A’ja Wilson continued to look like the MVP with 19 points and 14 rebounds.
After getting cut in Games 1 and 2, Vegas did everything she could to stop Sabrina Ionescu from doing what she wanted. Young and Plum were the main defenders, but they got all the help they needed.
Little things from the Aces defense against Sabrina Ionescu
-Press to start screens higher.
-Clark remains attached to Stewart, Hayes is on the weak side early on. Gustafson falls into the trap but holds on, Plum recovers
-Aces working to take away the auto-reads. pic.twitter.com/EKc19lAQEj—Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) October 5, 2024
Ionescu finished the game with four points on 1-for-7 shooting with five rebounds, five assists and five turnovers.
It was the kind of performance that makes you remember how the Aces swamped the WNBA and Liberty over the past two seasons. A defense that looks like one of the best in the WNBA and a balanced offensive attack – both led by the WNBA’s best player in Wilson – and a raucous crowd.
That show of force reframes the rest of this series. The Liberty looked like the better team in Game 1, but Game 2 got pretty awkward towards the end. The Aces smelled blood and fell just short, after which they took action again in the second half on Friday.
They need two more wins against a New York team that hasn’t lost three straight games all season, but the version of the Aces we saw in Game 3 certainly seems capable of doing that.
