Commissioner’s Cup: Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones and Liberty shut down Aces to win title

It was far from the offensive shootout that many expected, but the New York Liberty won the Commissioner’s Cup.

The Liberty knocked off the Las Vegas Aces 82-63 on Tuesday at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas to claim the WNBA’s latest edition of its in-season tournament. The Liberty shut down the Aces' offense and, despite a pretty poor shooting night all around, picked up their second straight win over the team that has been dominating the league all summer.

The win marks the first championship of any kind for the Liberty since they entered the league in 1997.

Jonquel Jones was named the Commissioner’s Cup MVP. She dropped 16 points and had 15 rebounds in the championship game, which marked her 11th double-double this season.

While this was a battle between the two top-scoring teams in the league, neither of them could score early on. It wasn’t until A’ja Wilson hit a free throw more than 3½ minutes in that someone finally put points on the board. It took 14 possessions and a combined 0-of-12 from the field.

The Liberty took a 17-11 lead after the first quarter. The Aces shot just 4-of-21 from the field and 0-of-9 from the 3-point line as a team.

The Aces rallied back and took a two-point lead by halftime, thanks to a huge defensive stand in which they held the Liberty scoreless for nearly the final four minutes of the second quarter. The Aces closed the half on a 17-4 run. Liberty stars Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart shot a combined just 2-of-19 from the field in the first 20 minutes, too.

The Aces’ offensive run, however, stalled in the third. The Liberty pushed back ahead by eight while outscoring Las Vegas by 10 in the period, which led them to a massive fourth-quarter surge. Ionescu hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the fourth, which got the Liberty a 14-point lead — the largest of the game. From there, they rode it the rest of the way to the 19-point win.

Marine Johannès added 17 points off the bench for the Liberty to go with Jones' double-double, and Ionescu finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. The Liberty have won seven straight games.

Jackie Young led the Aces with 16 points, and Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray each finished with 15 points. Those three were the only Aces players to score in double figures. Wilson did not score in the second half and finished with nine points. The Aces shot just 33% from the field as a team and shot 5-of-26 from the 3-point line. The loss was the first for Las Vegas at home and their second in their past five games.

The Commissioner’s Cup is in its third season. Liberty and Aces players, as a reward for reaching the championship game, split a $500,000 prize pool. Liberty players receive $30,000 each for winning, and Aces players receive $10,000 each.

The Aces went 9-1 in Commissioner’s Cup play to reach the championship game, though those games were just folded into the regular season. The Liberty went 7-3 and won the tiebreaker with the Connecticut Sun to make it to the championship. Tuesday’s game was an extra one this season. The two teams will play again Thursday in Las Vegas.

While it feels like this matchup could very well be a preview for the WNBA Finals, the Liberty very clearly have the upper hand in the series right now. If the Aces are going to defend their title from last season, they’ll have to find a way to get past New York.