Sabrina Ionescu, Liberty struggle in 95-81 loss to Aces in Game 3 of WNBA semifinals

Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News on Oct 5, 2024

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Defeating the two-time defending champions was never going to be an easy task.

But no one — maybe even the Aces — expected the Liberty to look as bad as they did on Friday night at Michelob Ultra Arena.

A disastrous third quarter derailed any chance of a Liberty sweep against the Aces in the semifinal round.

The Liberty’s three-point halftime deficit stretched to eight in the third at the 6:52 mark. Las Vegas’ issues from the first two games were nonexistent. The pick-and-roll defense was better, coach Becky Hammon didn’t have to watch her team miss countless layups and the lethal Jonquel Jones-Sabrina Ionescu tandem looked nothing like itself.

Ionescu didn’t make a field goal till the fourth quarter when she knocked down a trey with eight minutes left in Friday’s 95-81 Game 3 beatdown in Las Vegas. She was mostly ineffective while clearly being minimized due to more pressure directed from Hammon. Ionescu missed six of her seven shots while recording four points, five assists, five rebounds and five turnovers.

The Aces adjusted, and they survived to keep their chances of a three-peat alive. Game 4 is now set for Sunday in Las Vegas.

Hammon’s team departed from the East Coast and quickly flipped a switch.

They were no longer getting beat in transition. And on a chance the Liberty did get on the break, Jones received a pas from Ionescu, but the big crashed into Chelsea Gray, who was in position to draw an offensive foul. It was Jones’ fourth foul and it forced head coach Sandy Brondello to send the important Liberty center to the bench once again due too foul trouble.

Jones too finished with an unimpressive stat line: 11 points, six rebounds and a turnover.

The Liberty missed 12 consecutive shots in third, a stretch that spanned six and a half minutes. And frustrations boiled over with 90 seconds remaining in the period after Courtney Vandersloot appeared to get pushed by Kelsey Plum, but was called for a travel. Vandersloot yelled at the official, who then gifted her a technical foul.

It capped a disastrous third quarter that the Liberty lost, 21-6. Las Vegas ended it on a 17-2 run. New York trailed by 18 going into the fourth and saw a deficit balloon to as many as 25 points.

The rest of the fourth quarter felt like an exhibition.

Ironically, early on it looked like an instant classic was brewing.

As the Liberty adjusted to the early blitzes on Ionescu, the Aces went on a 7-0 run midway through the first period to go up four. They eventually led by three after Jackie Young’s best start of the series: 10 points and two assists. She finished with a team-high 24 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Much of the 2024 success of the Liberty relied on Jones staying out of foul trouble, an issue that occurred at multiple times in the regular season. The issue appeared again with four minutes remaining in the second quarter Friday after Jones whacked A’ja Wilson in the face for her third personal foul. The Liberty eventually lost those minutes, 14-9.

But the Libs stayed in the game with Breanna Stewart draining her first five shots. She later cooled off and finished with a team-high 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting. She grabbed six boards and recorded a team-worst -24 in 33 minutes of action.

The first half featured a frantic pace, with elite shotmaking on both sides. While Ionescu failed to score (but dished five assists), Stewart and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton traded jumpers. But Wilson, Plum and Young responded on the other end. WIlson, Plum and Young combined for 35 of the 52 Aces’ first-half points.

By halftime, the game featured 18 lead changes (most in WNBA playoff history) and eight ties. No team led by more than five points in the first half.

Then the game exploded in the third with Brondello later waving the white flag with three minutes remaining in regulation.

Ultimately, Game 3 was a puzzling, poor loss from a Liberty squad that went 5-0 against the Aces (in the regular season and postseason) before Friday’s shellacking. They’ll have a chance to make things right in a potential elimination Game 4 on Sunday.