Liberty 87, Aces 73: Finally
With one of their MVP bigs still working out the kinks, the Liberty turned to their other MVP big and are now firmly back in the Finals
What is it like to work when everything is on the line? Oftentimes, our work life consists of a comfortable routine where we are guaranteed a set amount of hours in a week. When it comes to playoff basketball, WNBA stars are working for a non-guaranteed next payday.
The New York Liberty are one of the league’s original franchises and a team that has never made it to a ticker-tape parade. They have never hoisted a championship trophy and never raised a flag to the rafters of their home stadium. On Sunday afternoon, they had the chance to extend a series, to avoid a 3-0 sweep on the biggest stage of women’s professional basketball. To add to the pressure, they were playing in front of a crowd of 17,143, the largest gate attendance for a WNBA Finals game in league history. They dropped both games in Vegas, including an abysmal 104-76 loss in Michelob Ultra Arena. However, the Liberty had won both of their home games against the #1-seeded Aces in the regular season, so playing in Brooklyn was guaranteed to be a different battle than playing in Sin City.
“Of course it’s a different vibe, but we still have a chance to make a difference,” 2022 MVP A’ja Wilson told the media ahead of tip-off about what it feels like to play New York at Barclays. “Basketball is a game of runs . . . that’s pretty much how you could weather a storm . . . staying locked into our system and us.” Wilson is right: basketball is a game of runs. For a team playing for their lives, for a chance to extend a series they haven’t reached since 2002, for a shot at a championship, you certainly hope for a huge run.
How would they do it? Liberty coach Sandy Brondello told us it would be about establishing Jonquel Jones early – not just getting post touches, but getting two feet in the paint and working on transition defense that was nowhere to be found in Game 2. The game started in their favor as Jonquel won the tip. It took a few minutes for either team to score, but Jones established herself early. She couldn’t score on her first possession, but quickly stole the ball back on the other end.
Still, scoreless after Breanna Stewart attempts a 3 and misses. Stewie attempts another; another miss. Laney rebounds, and finally the Liberty score the first points of the afternoon. As to be expected, Wilson ties it up on the other end. As mentioned earlier, basketball is a game of runs: when the 3-pointer exists and the Liberty have five players who can make them, a run is possible at any given moment.
That’s why the Aces decided to double-team Sabrina Ionscu. “I don’t have to explain to this group what this Game 3 means,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said pre-game. “Just [Ionescu’s] presence can distort your defense sometimes.” This is why the Aces continued to double team the guard despite Jonquel going on to sink three after three, picking up 12 points from beyond the arc alone.
The Liberty had a sense of urgency, a key factor they seemed to miss on the road, and to their credit despite early misses they didn’t stop taking threes. The 3-heavy style of play came to be their identity throughout the season, especially for a young guard who has never made the finals before. Sabrina attempted and made her first three of the night early in the first quarter. This marked a major difference for the home team, especially since Brondello noted “We’re making six less threes than we did in the [regular] season against them.” That’s 18 fewer points, a crucial number in what ended up an 87-73 victory.
Although Sab found her stroke early, three words gave the Liberty the advantage in the early going: Joneuel, Jonquel, Jonquel. She wasn’t just offensively dominant; her defensive prowess forced another stop, which led to a Sloot 3. JJ was everywhere, involved in plays one way or another: boxing A’ja out, allowing Betnijah Laney to grab the rebound; double-teaming Chelsea Gray along with Marine Johannés; blocking A’ja, allowing Sab to chuck up another 3. The Liberty led 21-12 thanks to their first run of the afternoon.
However, the Liberty were missing on the offensive boards. Stewie was getting doubled and the Aces were able to capitalize on Liberty fouls. After the game, Laney noted that boaoffensive rebounds are difficult to corral against the Aces, but the ones the Liberty grabbed did help stop transition offense for the visitor. In the second, Plum tied it at 21. JJ then did an up-and-under off a pass from Johannés and the Liberty established their lead yet again. They were trying to get Marine a 3, but she was iso’d against Plum and couldn’t get a solid look. Sloot had no luck, and then they had to inbound it to the only player that they could: JJ. With mere seconds on the shot clock, JJ hit a quick shot and the Liberty were up 25-21.
The Liberty absolutely do not win this one without Jonquel. Her finishes in the paint, her defensive work, and her lethal threes set the Liberty on the trajectory of success. When JJ picked up her first foul, she raised her hand up to say “my bad,” then kept going. She didn’t get down on herself or argue the call, something that she picked up a fine for earlier in these playoffs.
The Liberty needed something other than JJ. What they really needed was rebounds. Early in the second the teams were even on the glass, but the Liberty missed crucial boards on the defensive end as well as offensive. Failed box outs coupled with extreme athleticism from Wilson, one of those “she’s just too good” moments, kept Vegas within 3 with 3:41 to play in the first half. Jones notched her 16th point with an easy lay-in, then on the next possession hit a fadeaway floater in the former MVP’s face.
Still, the Liberty still desperately needed rebounds if they were going to make it a serious point differential.
Instead of rebounds, JJ gave them another block on an attempt from Plum. In the third, it was as if the Liberty learned to pass, but couldn’t find quality shots. However, with the ball in JJ’s hands, it opened up the lane for the rest of the team. As A’ja said pregame, basketball is a game of runs, but in a game with five ties with 6:44 to play in the third and the biggest lead being 11 for the Liberty and one for the Aces, the Liberty were still missing that one run that’d make the difference so big that it would take a serious run on the Aces’ end to come back. Stewie looked rattled the entire game, not her calm self we’re used to. The Aces kept doubling Sab, leaving Jonquel open.
“It’s not like she’s like Ionescu who could chuck up 16 and make 10 of them,” Coach Hammon said after the game.
The Aces maintained the double against Sab, despite her being in single digit points on the afternoon. JJ sunk a three, and the Liberty took the lead 60-46, their biggest lead of the game. Let’s start the fourth. Liberty needed someone. It could be Johannés, picking up her first points, but instead it was Kayla Thornton who sunk a three, her first points of that night.
Let’s just say, the home crowd made a difference. The Aces bench came out with 1:30 to play while the Liberty starting 5 stayed in. Notably, Chelsea Gray exited the game with what seemed to be an ankle sprain; she was in obvious pain in the tunnel leading back to the locker room. “She’s our point guard,” Wilson noted. “She’s our leader, you know the answer to [what her presence means].” The Aces need Gray’s energy and confidence, something that bench players like Kiersten Bell cannot supplement.
The Liberty, though, have established JJ as a reliable scorer in games when their threes aren’t falling. Jonquel is the reason they won, and she’ll be the reason they win on Wednesday. Even if she doesn’t lead the team in scoring again after doing so Sunday with 27, her getting the ball down low will open the 3-point opportunities for the rest of her team. All systems are firing for Wednesday. The Liberty need to win it to force a Game 5 at Vegas, and they need to go on a bigger run than 14 points. Notably, it is tremendously difficult to beat a team three games in a row, but it is what this new-look New York Liberty need to do if they are to hoist their first ever trophy.
