The Las Vegas Aces faced a setback in Game 1 of the WNBA semifinal playoff series against the New York Liberty, losing 87-77 on Sunday at Barclays Center. The two-time defending champions came into the long-awaited rematch with New York after a winning streak. The Liberty started out Sunday’s game with a large lead. The Aces were scrambling to catch up throughout the game.
“It’s a loss, that’s the only thing that I really see, there’s a lot of things that I think I can do better individually and also help my teammates collectively,“ Kelsey Plum said in the post-game conference.
Plum led the Aces with 24 points while A’ja Wilson offered 21 points. The back-to-back champions made a bold statement on Sunday wearing Wilson’s jersey, calling out the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year snub. This season’s unanimous WNBA MVP, finished second despite averaging 2.6 blocks and 1.8 steals per game.
Historically, the Aces have been resilient in playoff scenarios. They have only trailed once in a series over the past two years, and that instance was against Seattle, where they also started down 0-1. However, the circumstances were different. The Aces enjoyed the luxury of home court in that playoff run. This year, New York has home-court advantage.
“That part about home court advantage is really crucial,” said Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu after Sunday’s win over the Aces.
“You have these fans that are behind you, making it really hard to play for other teams.”
Spike Lee was one of those fans in the crowd, exchanging words with Plum during the game. The energy at Barclay Center was palpable, feeding the Liberty’s urgency as they sought to avenge last season’s Finals loss to the Aces.
Long-awaited Aces-Liberty rematch
Sunday’s matchup marked a long-anticipated rematch of last season’s WNBA Finals, where the Aces emerged victorious in four games. The Liberty entered this season with a clear goal: To avenge that loss and capture the WNBA championship.
“We came out, it’s Game 1, we wanted to play with a sense of urgency and protect our home court,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said.
And that’s why they did. New York came out strong from the jump, leading 28-21 after the first quarter. Liberty star, Breanna Stewart had 20 points in the opening 20 minutes and scored 34 points to lead her team to victory. Ionescu followed Stewart with 21 points.
Both teams entered the series with impressive momentum, having swept their first-round opponents. However, the Liberty has the best record in the league this season and earned the top seed in the playoffs. The Aces have won nine of their final 10 games heading into the postseason before they swept Seattle in the opening round. The only loss in that stretch was one to New York.
The Liberty swept all three games during the regular season from Las Vegas with the last victory in New York three weeks ago when Wilson was out due to an injured foot. No doubt about it, the Aces knew they were in for a challenge but starting out weak in the first quarter crushed them, as it often does.
“You’re trying to dig out a hole the whole time,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said in the post-game presser.
“It’s not the way you want to start, especially on the road. You have a lot of things that could go your way. But this time, it didn’t.”
New York’s stellar offense and defense
Weak first quarters continue to plague the Aces, but they’ve been known to bounce back. This time around, with New York’s impeccable offense and defense, it was a challenge for the 2x champions to close the gap.
The Aces' core four led the board for Las Vegas, with Young contributing 17 points, two assists, and two rebounds. Wilson also offered five assists and six rebounds, Plum provided four and two respectively. But, Stewart was tough to get a handle on. She hit eight of her 10 shots in the first half.
“Personally, I just wanted to come out and set the tone, be aggressive, and really kind of take what the defense was giving me,” Stewart said during the post-game conference.
Stewart shot half of her three points. Ionescu finished the game with five assists and four rebounds. New York star Jonquel Jones had 13 points and 12 rebounds. The combination of the three were formidable opponents for the back-to-back champions who struggled to break through the Liberty’s wall, ultimately succumbing to their relentless pressure.
“Their defense was great tonight,” Hammon said after Sunday’s loss.
“You’ve got to make shots against this team. They’re too good defensively and offensively so the open ones you’ve got to make.”
While the offense was on point, New York’s defense was also suffocating the Aces. There were at least three to four players on Wilson at all time, giving the unanimous MVP no room to shine. The Liberty ended the second quarter on an 11-4 run to lead by ten at halftime. It was a chase for the remainder of the game. Las Vegas hung on and only trailed by 75-67 in the fourth before Ionescu hit a three, quickly turning and pointing to an excited Spike Lee.
Kelsey Plum and Liberty superfan Spike Lee exchange words
In the midst of the competition, Plum managed to keep the atmosphere lively, engaging in playful banter with Spike Lee, who was courtside wearing a Sabrina Ionescu jersey. Spike Lee could be seen throwing jabs at Plum.
“I told him that he should talk louder,” Plum joked during the post-game press conference.
The back and forth between the film extraordinaire and Aces star displayed the fun side of the fierce rivalry. The two could be seen exchanging hugs before the start of the game.
All fun aside, after Ionescu's Spike Lee-enthused 3-pointer the Aces were unable to recover. The 77-87 loss comes with stress as the back-to-back champions head into what could be the end of the road for them. But, a loss always comes with lessons.
“We gotta start better,” Plum said after Sunday’s loss in New York. “Coach can say a lot of different things, but it’s on the players to just play hard.”
“To me it’s do or die,” Hammon said in the post-game presser on Sunday.
Game 2 of the best-of-5 matchup is Tuesday in New York. The start time for Game 2 of the semifinal series has to be announced.
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