Brooklyn’s Barclays Center was nearly packed to capacity as reigning WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart led the New York Liberty to complete a 3-0 season series sweep of the Las Vegas Aces in a rematch of last year’s WNBA Finals.
Though Aces star and reigning WNBA Finals MVP A’ja Wilson missed her first game since 2019 with an ankle injury, the league’s two strongest teams delivered a late-game thriller and Sabrina Ionescu heroics on Sunday.
In the end, the Liberty pulled out a narrow 75-71 victory in front of a roaring home crowd.
Stewart finished the game with a dominant performance of 21 points and 11 rebounds. Meanwhile, Ionescu scored 14 points in another clutch performance.
Jonquel Jones also contributed 15 points and eight rebounds, which were very important for the victory.
Breanna Stewart led the New York Liberty to a narrow victory over the Las Vegas Aces
Aces star A’ja Wilson missed her first game since 2019 with an ankle injury
The Liberty came into the game on the back of two straight wins over the Seattle Storm. Meanwhile, their familiar foes visited them from the desert after four losses of their own.
The defending champions – without their leading female player – showed their weapons from the start, making their first six field goals from distance, missing just one three-pointer to start the contest.
However, the Liberty forced a 24-24 tie with two minutes remaining and closed the first quarter with a 26-24 lead behind Stewart’s 10 points and four rebounds.
Before halftime, the Liberty’s offense was just as suffocating as the pincers they applied to the Aces.
A timely three-pointer by Ionescu gave the Liberty a 37-28 lead in the seventh minute and forced Becky Hammon to call a timeout. But it was to no avail, as New York turned the ball over 11 times and took firm control, winning 45-33 heading into the locker room.
Stewart remained on top, three rebounds shy of a double-double in the first half with 14 points.
With two minutes left in the third quarter, Stewart took a breather and his stats increased to 21 points and eight rebounds.
Stewart finished the game with a dominant performance of 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Sabrina Ionescu scored a clutch shot and a free throw to help New York seal the win on Sunday
Despite a comfortable 64-51 lead after three quarters, the Aces cut the deficit to three points in the final five minutes, then to one in the final three and a half.
The entire stadium tried to catch its breath after Las Vegas’ Sydney Colson managed to break free. However, the Texas A&M player couldn’t keep her composure and give her team the lead when her layup went off the rim.
After overcoming the mistake, the teams exchanged heavy blows in the final minutes.
With the weight of five counties on her shoulders, Ionescu showed her finishing ability by sinking a jumper that broke a 71-71 tie in the final minute. With seconds left, she went to the free throw line and made one of two attempts to help seal the victory.
Las Vegas’ loss was led by Kelsey Plum with 25 points, while Jackie Young and Alysha Clark scored 12 and 11, respectively.
“We are definitely happy to have won, but we can’t play like this again,” Ionescu said after the match. “It’s very important. Every game in this league is important, you want to win every series.”
“It doesn’t matter who we face in the playoffs, but this is a home game for us. We didn’t want to let this opportunity pass us by and end this series at home with a bad taste in our mouths,” she continued.
“We have to find ways, whether they’re pretty or ugly, and I’m proud of the way we fought, even though we didn’t play very well.”
Kelsey Plum led the defending champions’ comeback with 25 points and six assists.
Jonquel Jones also contributed 15 points and eight rebounds, which were very important for the victory.
The win leaves New York with a 29-6 record, remaining atop the league standings. The Liberty look to maintain first place with five games remaining, while the second-seeded Minnesota Lynx sit right behind them with a 25-8 record.
On the other hand, the Aces will enter their back-to-back games against Caitlin Clark and the Fever in Indiana with a 22-13 record, ranking fourth in the league.
After avoiding a late-game collapse, Stewart shared the same sentiment as Ionescu, saying: “We’re happy to come away with the win but, you know, at one point we were up by 20 points.”
“Keep moving forward and don’t relax at any point when you’re on the court,” she added of the most important lesson from her win. “We’ll watch videos, figure out what we need to do better. Everything that happens on the court has a purpose. Sometimes it seems like we were just floating, and these are the defending champions.
“Of course they’re going to come out no matter who’s on the court and whether A’ja is playing or not. They’re fighting to win.”