Liberty 'scars' from WNBA Finals loss the difference in current series vs. Aces

NEW YORK — The Las Vegas Aces aren’t washed. They aren’t even a vastly diminished version of their 2023 champion selves.

The 2024 Liberty team is just a squad destined to avenge a heartbreaking 2023 WNBA Finals loss with pieces put together by a proficient front office.

The “scars” — head coach Sandy Brondello mentioned during Tuesday’s shootaround — weighed on the Liberty throughout the offseason, willed them to a No. 1 overall seed and fueled a 3-0 regular-season sweep of the Aces.

Now they’re a game away from sending the Aces home for the winter.

“This is why three-peating is hard. Let’s be real,” Becky Hammon admitted after Tuesday’s 88-84 Game 2 loss at Barclays Center. “The whole league has been pissed off the last eight months and my players are in commercials … and being celebrities. And you get distracted. That’s why it’s hard because human nature is distracting.”

The second-round series are filled those candid remarks from Hammon.

A “pissed” Liberty team is responsible for that.

Through two games, the Liberty are responding with big plays after the Aces land huge blows themselves — an issue that includes poor second quarters, the “Achilles heel” of the Aces, per Hammon.

Not only are they getting contributions from their starters, the Liberty got game-shifting plays from reserves Courtney Vandersloot and Kayla Thornton. In Game 2, the duo combined to shoot 9 of 12 for 21 points. The Aces have 21 total bench points through Games 1 and 2.

The extra length of new Aces enemy Leonie Fiebich adds on to the massive wingspans of Jonquel Jones (6-10) and Breanna Stewart (7-1), which is a factor in A’ja Wilson recording numbers below her season averages: 22.5 points and 6.5 rebounds. She earned her third MVP title after logging 26.9 points and 11.9 rebounds in 38 regular-season games.

Wilson is seeing extra help on almost every touch, with Liberty players rotating wherever she is on the floor.

Those “habits” and “attention to detail” are among the reasons why Hammon reiterates the Liberty are the team to beat in the WNBA.

“And they are the best. Let there be no doubt,” she said. “They’re the best team in the league. They played it all year just like we were last year…”

And the matchups between the teams have been dictated by the stars. Last season — after finishing third in MVP voting — Wilson outclassed MVP winner Stewart throughout the finals. In 2024, Sabrina Ionescu is dictating the game on three levels, winning her matchups against the Aces superstar trio each night.

She even went at Wilson in crunch time, banking in a floater over the two-time Defensive Player of the Year winner to contribute to the 13 of 19 fourth-quarter Liberty points she helped create with her offense in the eventual win.

“I always want to take those shots. Make or miss,” Ionescu said. “Something that I’ve always done my entire career is make a lot of big shots, missed a lot of big shots.

“My teammates are continuing to just pour into me. They need me in that moment. They know that I’m built for it.”