Breanna Stewart remembers not playing her best in last year’s Finals when the Las Vegas Aces defeated the New York Liberty. She made sure to change that in Game 1 of their semifinals series this year, scoring 34 points to help the Liberty win 87-77 on Sunday.
“I think I’ve just kind of grown from it, had a lot of time to reflect on it,” said Stewart, who was dealing with her father-in-law’s death from cancer right before last year’s series. “How I can be better.
How to handle things collectively better. I don’t forget who I am and what I can do. … That wasn’t my most proudest, but I’ll continue to be better now.”
Game 2 of the best-of-5 series is set for Tuesday night in New York. “Do or die, you have to win Game 2,” said Aces coach Becky Hammon. “No other way around it.”
The two-time defending champions have only trailed once in a series in the last two years, which was against Seattle when they were also down 1-0. The difference was that they played at home for the first two games.
“We had to beat them three games in a row. We had our backs against the wall before,” Hammon said.
Kelsey Plum scored 24 points, and A’ja Wilson added 21 for the Aces.
“It’s a loss, that’s the only thing I see,” Plum said when asked about her scoring. “A lot of things I can do better individually and help my teammates collectively.”
This game was a rematch of last season’s WNBA Finals, which the Aces won in four games, including clinching the championship in New York. The Liberty said they’ve carried the pain from that loss as motivation all season long. New York had the best record in the league and secured the top seed in the playoffs.
Last season, the Aces were the No. 1 seed, so New York had to play the first two games of the Finals there. The Liberty returned home down 0-2 and were unable to recover.
New York started strong behind Stewart and led 28-21 after the first quarter. Las Vegas got closer at 37-34 with 4:11 left in the half, but New York ended the second quarter with an 11-4 run to lead by 10 at halftime.
Stewart, who scored 20 points in the first 20 minutes, contributed six points during a key stretch. She made eight of her 10 shots in the first half.
“I think I wanted to come out and set the tone, be aggressive and take what the defense was giving me,” Stewart said.
The Liberty started the third quarter strong, scoring the first five points and extending their lead to 62-44 with a 3-pointer from Stewart. After a timeout, the Aces responded by scoring the next 12 points, closing the gap to six.
Courtney Vandersloot ended New York’s scoring drought with a layup, which helped the Liberty regain a nine-point lead by the end of the third quarter.
Las Vegas stayed competitive, trailing 75-67 until Sabrina Ionescu hit a 3-pointer with 7:34 left in the game. She quickly turned to point at Spike Lee, who was sitting courtside in her jersey.
In Game 2 of the opening round series win over Atlanta, the famous basketball fan had given Ionescu a high-five that felt like “New York was injected into my veins.”
Ninety seconds later, Ionescu made another 3-pointer that excited the packed crowd. Las Vegas couldn’t get closer than eight points for the rest of the game.
Ionescu finished with 21 points, while Jonquel Jones added 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Liberty.
“We came out, it’s Game 1, we wanted to play with a sense of urgency and protect our home court,” said Liberty coach Sandy Brondello.
This is the first time in league history that the finalists from the previous season faced each other in the semifinals. The league changed its playoff format in 2016, allowing the top eight teams to make the postseason regardless of conference.
Minnesota faced Los Angeles in the 2018 first round after those two teams had met in the WNBA Finals the previous two years.
