What you need to know for Aces-Liberty super-team rematch as postseason looms
The Las Vegas Aces are solidly in control of the No. 1 seed in the WNBA playoffs as the league heads down the back stretch of its larger 40-game season. Their 24-2 start is in historic territory and an improved defense has made the reigning champions an even more complex matchup for the 11 other teams chasing titles.
One of those is the New York Liberty (20-6), a super-team in the truest sense of the word in that they built a roster in free agency and they’re on a bumpy chemistry ride between success and failure. They’re both atop the WNBA standings, with the Connecticut Sun (19-7) rounding out a clear top-three grouping.
The first meeting of super-teams was dominated by the Aces in late June. They’ll meet again Sunday, this time in Brooklyn, for the second of five scheduled meetings before the postseason. Here’s what you need to know for the rematch airing on ABC as its all-access showcase (3 p.m. ET Sunday).
First meeting refresher
Las Vegas won, 98-81, on June 29 at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
All five Vegas starters scored at least 14 points, led by Kelsey Plum’s 18, and the team collectively shot 58% overall and 42.9% (9-of-21) from 3-point range. Plum was 5-of-7 from the field for 13 points in the first quarter and the team shot 57.1%, though it led by only six after 10 minutes. Plum finished with a season-high eight assists, and Candace Parker had six rebounds.
New York kept it within a few possessions until the pivotal third when the Aces, as they are wont to do, pulled away with a 27-14 frame. New York was outscored by only four in the other three quarters combined. Turnovers continued to be a problem for New York with 15.
Breanna Stewart led all Liberty scorers with 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting. Sabrina Ionescu had only one 3-pointer, but Marine Johannès came off the bench to hit two and score 10 points. The Liberty average nearly 11 made 3s per game, led by Ionescu’s 3.4, and had only eight. In four of their six losses, they’ve made eight or fewer. (They do have two wins while making eight against Seattle and Los Angeles.)
How have things been going for the Aces since that game?
It’s as steady as can be for the Aces, who are on pace with the 1998 Houston Comets for the best record through 26 games in WNBA history. The Aces clinched the first postseason spot of the 2023 playoffs with their 93-72 win over the visiting Atlanta Dream on Tuesday, and there’s still one-third of the schedule left to play.
They’ve scored at least 90 points in 20 of their 26 games, and at a league-best 94.4 points per game, they are on pace to break the all-time record of 93.9 set by the 2010 Phoenix Mercury. Their defense ranks top in the league (78.9 ppg/94.0 drtg) and is a full six spots better than last year’s squad. The Aces’ 19 net rating is 12 points more than the Liberty (6.9) in second place.
Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, A’ja Wilson and Plum are all averaging at least 15 points per game and shooting at least 50% overall. Gray and Young are shooting better than 45% from 3. Wilson is averaging 9.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks. Gray is averaging 6.9 assists.
How have things been going for New York?
It’s the Brooklyn roller-coaster ride of excitement and doubt. And no lead, no matter how big or on what side of the ball, is safe. Since playing Vegas, the Liberty have eked out wins over the Mercury (four points), Storm (four, twice), Fever (eight) and Sparks (seven, eight). They lost to the Wings, 98-88, and Lynx, 88-83.
One of their bigger problems is turnovers (15 per game ranks ninth) and defense. Their 7.1% steal rate is ninth, with 6.5 steals per game ranking seventh and trailing the league-leading Sun (8.2) and the second-place Aces (8.0). Their 9.3% block rate is seventh. And when 3s aren’t falling, they’re in danger of being upset.
Aces without Candace Parker
The lone drawback for the Aces appears to be depth, though that proved to be inconsequential last postseason. Their starters still do most of the heavy lifting and it works.
Parker, their star free-agent signing, hasn’t played since July 7. She is out indefinitely while rehabbing from foot surgery. She had settled into the team nicely and was a key performer, especially defensively, in the late stretch of games she played. Though none of her stats is stellar, she’s found ways to impact whatever part of the game the Aces need that night.
Parker scored 15 points in big games against each of the Fever, Liberty and Sun. Against the Liberty, she was 3-of-4 from 3 to open up the offense and take advantage of the team's defensive mismatches. In the rematch with the Fever, she went without a bucket, but reeled in 12 boards against Rookie of the Year candidate Aliyah Boston.
In the stretch without Parker, the team is stepping up to average seven more points per game (opponents are scoring on average three points more on a better shooting clip). Kiah Stokes has stepped into the starting spot and is averaging 4.1 points and 6.4 rebounds. She had 17 rebounds against the Sky.
Las Vegas has also been without Riquna Williams, who had not played due to a lower back injury. The team anticipated her return late in the season, but a recent domestic violence arrest will likely mean she doesn’t suit up again. The Aces are not allowing her to take part in team activities. They added Iowa State’s Ashley Joens to a hardship contract.
Liberty’s Jonquel Jones coming on strong
The pivotal change for the Liberty since playing the Aces is Jonquel Jones has been more of her former MVP self than she was early in the year as she returned from a stress fracture in her foot. Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said a few weeks ago she thought Jones had been “overthinking a little bit” and told her to “go out, play hard and take what the defense gives you.”
After going scoreless in the overtime win against the Mystics on June 25, she scored a season-high 27 on them a month later. She was 10-of-14, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range. Since the All-Star break, she’s averaging 11.6 rebounds per game compared to 6.1 before it. She’s had six double-digit rebounding games, including a season-high 17, in eight games since the break.
Before it, she reached double digits three times and maxed out at 11. That improvement on the glass and in the post will be critical against Wilson and Stokes, who has stepped in for Parker.
Backup center Stefanie Dolson has been out since June 23 with a foot injury and Han Xu is with her national team.
What Liberty need to do differently
It didn’t help that New York was finishing off a tough stretch that started with a Sunday matinee against a Washington Mystics roster that still had a healthy Shakira Austin and Elena Delle Donne. The Liberty traveled from New York to Connecticut on Monday to play the Sun on Tuesday, then endured a 13-hour travel day Wednesday to face Vegas on Thursday.
In comparison, the Aces were in the middle of a five-game homestand and had two days of rest in between games that week. It’s similar this time. The Aces defeated the Dream at home Tuesday and are off until Sunday’s game. The Liberty play at Minnesota on Friday, travel home Saturday and host the Aces in a matinee.
But travel was only one minor prong of the problem. The Aces feasted on the Liberty’s defense to build an early 11-4 lead within three minutes. Gray took advantage of her matchup with Ionescu, Young and Plum had similar success, and overall the Aces guards were quicker and more efficient.
Ionescu’s 138 defensive rating was the worst of the Liberty group, but not far off from defensive stalwart Betnijah Laney (135.6), Stewart (130.9), Courtney Vandersloot (127.3) and Jones (127.1). Jones’ recent spring back to form and the loss of Parker could help the Liberty’s improvement there.
New York needs to find what’s working early offensively — hopefully that’s springing players for open 3s — go with it and not let its foot off the gas. The Liberty have to be on their game offensively, and at least put bodies in passing lanes to minimize the Aces defensively. Las Vegas can turn a 2-point deficit into a 20-point lead in a hurry, so not losing control of the game is imperative.
When will Aces and Liberty meet again?
Let us count the days: nine. The sides meet again Aug. 15 in Las Vegas for the Commissioner’s Cup championship where there’s $500,000 on the line. That’s approximately one-third of a team’s salary cap.
The Aces, who won the Western Conference with a 9-1 record, are reigning Cup champions. The Liberty went 7-3 in Cup games and edged out the Sun (7-3) by winning both of their Cup meetings in the Eastern Conference.
They’ll play again Aug. 17 in regular-season play in Las Vegas and once more back at Barclays Center on Aug. 28.
