LAS VEGAS — Becky Hammon believed and waited for this version of the Las Vegas Aces. The two-time champion team is at its best when its guard trio is firing on all cylinders, led by three-time MVP A’ja Wilson. It’s a version that was missing for much of the season and certainly didn’t show up for Brooklyn in the first two games of the semifinals.
“Man, we’ve been waiting for that too,” Chelsea Gray said after successfully leading the Aces’ offense to that version.
The Aces didn’t just survive the brink of elimination, they went full throttle with a resounding 95-81 victory at home on Friday, keeping their season and hopes of winning a third straight title alive. The close game exploded in the third quarter, with the Aces winning 21-6. Liberty leads the series 2-1 and will look to qualify for Sunday’s Finals (3 p.m. ET, ABC).
Jackie Young led all scorers with 24 points and four 3-pointers. Kelsey Plumb hit 20 homers and shot 63.6% overall. Wilson had 19 points and 14 rebounds. Gray came close to his own double-double with 10 points and seven assists, threading a needle that others couldn’t see. And newly crowned sixth player of the year, Tiffany Hayes, scored 11 points off the bench.
New York Liberty’s Jonquel Jones (left) and Sabrina Ionescu go to the basket during the second quarter of Game 3 at Michelob Ultra Arena on Oct. 4, 2024 in Las Vegas. Ace Aja Wilson. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
These are two-time championship-winning aces, and Hammon said two hours before tipoff that he expected them to show up “any day now.” On cue, they emerged in full force from the jump to 25 consecutive sold-out crowds at Michelob Ultra Arena.
“Everything was really good for everyone,” Hammon said afterward. “It was probably the most perfect game of the season.”
For the first time in the series, Wilson established his presence early with a come-from-behind jumper after Gray’s game-opening block. She made a pull-up bucket and a 3-pointer within the first three minutes of the game. Young took over and answered the Liberty 3 and handed the keys to Gray, who scored seven of his 10 points in the first half.
After Game 1, Hammon sent private and public messages to Gray, telling reporters that the point guard must “take the matchup personally” and telling Bethonia Rainey-Hamilton “not to stand up and get a blowout.” told. Gray was limited to four points and one assist in Game 1, but had 14 points and seven assists in Game Two. Midway through the second game of Game 3, she sped past the Liberty’s All-Defensive star and passed to Roaring Wilson for a goal. I’ve built up paint points that I previously had trouble finding.
Still, the Aces and Liberty continued a back-and-forth battle throughout the first half, with 18 lead changes and eight ties through 2 minutes and 55 seconds. The Aces stayed in space and led 52-49 at halftime. No team was led by more than four people, and nearly every category was close to a stalemate.
Still, it was all ace.
“We were down by only three points in the first half, but it didn’t feel good,” Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said. “I felt like this wasn’t how we played.”
The mood couldn’t have been better for the Seafoam faithful in the third quarter. Wilson made a jumper off a feed from Young, Young made a three, Plumb made a finger roll on a layup, and Gray made a three of his own to speed up the frame to 21-6, with potential The sweep door was closed. Liberty didn’t score from 8:02 (when the Aces led 57-54) to 26.2 seconds left (73-55).
“We were solid defensively (and) rebounding,” Gray said. “We were intentionally on that end of the floor, and when we can do that and hold a team like that to six points in the third quarter, it’s a matter of whether we can do that because they have scorers on the other side. That was the key.”
Liberty’s leading scorer almost ended the night without a bucket. Sabrina Ionescu didn’t score until she made a technical free throw nine minutes into the fourth quarter. Her only basket in seven attempts was a 3-pointer at 8:08. Hammon wanted the team to earn at least a C-plus to protect Liberty’s most improved superstar.
The team provided a plus when it was needed most. Brondello appreciated their urgency and giving Ionescu little room to maneuver. Gray said his attention to detail paid off after allowing too many layups in the first two games. The Aces won 42-28, including a 20-10 second half in the paint.
Ionescu has scored fewer than 10 points twice this season, both times in limited minutes. Brianna Stewart didn’t have much luck with 19 points. She and Brondello each said before the game that it would be the toughest game against a team prepared to throw everything at Liberty to survive.
“They’re going to be aggressive and take advantage of the fans and use that momentum,” Stewart said after the game. “And I don’t think we were ready for all of that. We didn’t come here to accept the hard stuff, because this is not going to be easy. And we did it tonight. I witnessed it.”
Jonquel Jones was benched for three fouls in the final four minutes of the first half, preventing him from scoring the team’s usual double-double. She had 11 points and six rebounds. Leonie Fibich scored 10 points and Courtney Vandersloot, who gave a rare technical scream at the referee after receiving a moving call during a Liberty drought in the third quarter, had nine points off the bench.
“They came out and did what they had to do,” Brondello said. “Now you can come back on Sunday.”
