The Las Vegas Aces are not going to go down so easily.
After becoming the first defending WNBA champion to fall behind 2-0 in a series, the host Aces responded with a 95-81 Game 3 victory over the New York Liberty. Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday in Las Vegas at 3 pm ET.
All it took was a 17-2 run to end the third quarter and energize a sold-out crowd at the Michelob Ultra Arena. After a close first half, in which neither team built a lead of more than four points, the Aces clamped down on defense for 10 minutes. By the end of the frame, Liberty had scored six points and committed five turnovers.
It was the fourth-lowest scoring by an opponent in Aces playoff history. New York had its starters out of the game midway through the fourth quarter, but the Aces’ stars stayed a little longer. They came out ahead 90-68, with the message sent.
Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum led the Aces’ offense, with a combined 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 being injured in Games 1 and 2, Vegas did everything they could to stop Sabrina Ionescu from doing what she wanted. Young and Plum were the main defenders, but they received all the help they needed.
Little things about Aces’ defense against Sabrina Ionescu
-Pressure to start higher screens.
-Clark stays attached to Stewart, Hayes comes in early on the weak side. Gustafson falls but holds on, Plum recovers
-Aces working to eliminate automatic readings. pic.twitter.com/EKc19lAQEj— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) October 5, 2024
Ionescu finished the game with four points on 1-of-7 shooting with five rebounds, five assists and five turnovers.
It was the kind of performance that makes you remember how the Aces crushed the WNBA and the Liberty over the past two seasons. It was a defense that looks like one of the best in the WNBA and a well-balanced offensive attack, both led by the WNBA’s best player, 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 came up short, then acted accordingly again in the second half on Friday.
They still need two more wins against a New York team that hasn’t lost three straight all season, but the version of the Aces we saw in Game 3 definitely looks capable of doing it.