LAS VEGAS – The Aces certainly know what to expect now.
A week before jetting off to the Big Apple to see the New York Liberty in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game for the second time in three years, Las Vegas learned a lot about its long-time rivals in the two team’s first meeting of the season on Tuesday night.
The Liberty rolled into the Michelob ULTRA Arena and shut off the water for the Aces’ high-scoring offense, holding the defending WNBA champions under 80 points in a fairly comprehensive 87-76 win.
“They’re a difficult team to guard,” head coach Becky Hammon said. “Defensively, we don’t want to give up that many [points] in the second and third quarter. I think this will be a really good learning game for us.”
New York’s defense managed to make A’ja Wilson uncomfortable — not allowing the four-time MVP to find any type of rhythm in the early stages. Wilson started the game 1-for-8 from the field and was 3-for-11 at the break. She finished with 16 points (7-18 FG), nine rebounds, five assists, and four steals — an off night by her all-time great standards.
“It was just one of those nights,” Wilson said of her individual offensive performance. “I was just shooting some blanks and it sucks, it stinks, but at the same time, I think everybody in this room knows that there isn’t going to be too many of these.
“It’s just about bouncing back now. We have a game coming up (vs. Dallas on Thursday) and we’ll try to turn the page. I’m going to sit in this, my parents will probably give me a hard time about it, but it’s alright.”
Jackie Young had the hot hand in the opening 20 minutes, pouring in 13 of her 19 points while adding four assists.
But the Liberty found a way to contain ‘Special Agent 0’ after the interval, too, as they outscored the Aces 25-18 in the third quarter to take a comfortable 67-51 lead into the fourth. New York led by as many as 19 and won the first three periods.
Young went 1-for-6 from three-point range on the night and shot just 1-6 FG in what proved to be a decisive third frame.
Arguably most notably, Chelsea Gray didn't register a made field goal until the 3:34 mark of the third quarter. She ended with 11 points, five rebounds, and eight assists on 4-for-8 shooting (2-5 3PT).
“They’re long and they do a lot of switching,” Hammon said of the Liberty’s stingy defense. “I think it takes a second to get used to the size and the feel for them. So, like I said, we are going to look at this as a learning [curve], but I also thought we missed a lot of good looks. So, some of that is their defense and some of that is us.”
Breanna Stewart (20), Sabrina Ionescu (16), and Jonquel Jones (14) combined for 50 points for the Liberty. The visitors had four of five starters score in double figures and Han Xu provided a crucial spark off the bench with 12 points (4-4 FG, 2-2 3PT) — 10 in the third quarter.
The Aces went on to outscore New York 25-20 in the fourth quarter. Hammon said she noticed the sense of urgency ramp up when her players realized they were going to lose. She needs it to be high the entire 40 minutes.
Hammon also said that she was relatively pleased with the Aces’ defense. Holding the Liberty’s stacked lineup mostly in the teens scoring is a solid feat. But this time around for Las Vegas, the offense just couldn’t keep up.
However, overall, Hammon was more encouraged than not, especially knowing that the Aces will get another crack at the Liberty soon. Wilson agreed. She said that the defensive foundations the team has been laying down recently are something positive to build on.
“[Defense] is something we can really control,” she said. “Of course, we’re not trying to miss shots. But sometimes it’s just going to be that kind of night. The defense, the effort behind it, we can control.
“The system and the scouting that we want to put in, did we execute it? I don’t think we did the best today. So, I think I’m going to assess [this game] more on that end [than the offense]. The defense is something that we have to get steady at and we saw some games where we can be steady. We did a decent job at it [today], but we can get better.”
Earlier in the season, in games where scoring maybe wasn’t coming as easily, the Aces started learning to look to Chennedy Carter to come off the bench with a punch.
However, with the dynamic guard dealing with an injury the past few weeks, generating second-unit offense has become a bit of a thorn in the Aces’ side.
Cheyenne Parker-Tyus, though, showed flashes of what she can bring in the backup center role with a season-high 14 points (5-7 FG) in 17 minutes — the most she has scored since July 17, 2024 when she dropped 16 against Minnesota as a member of the Atlanta Dream.
The Aces have two more games before their second rendezvous with the Liberty, but they will be hoping — if neither Carter or Dana Evans return from the sidelines in the meantime — that Parker-Tyus will continue to show an increased level of aggression on both ends of the floor against New York’s extremely physical frontcourt.