Aces finally join together to dismantle freedom and stay alive

Becky Hammon apologized to her players this week. Your Las Vegas Aces were soundly beaten by the New York Liberty in a sloppy, listless Game 2 of the WNBA semifinals, putting their season on the brink. They were then beaten by Hammon, which she addressed in her press conferencetearing their mentality apart during their title defense this season. Although she didn't regret the content of her message, she did regret the delivery.

“It wasn't the best wording on my part to convey what I wanted to convey and probably not the best timing,” Hammon said of Friday's shooting. “So I apologized to them as a group.”

She didn't want to say her players were distracted by TV commercials. (“I want their faces to be everywhere,” she clarified. “I want them to get paid in every way possible, and winning does that.”) But she had intended to denounce what she saw as a lack of drive “The edge is what I was begging for.” That was missing for much of the first season, came to life over time, and then only flared up intermittently during these playoffs.

Hammon doesn't have to beg for it this weekend. Las Vegas had that lead — and some left — heading into Game 3 on Friday. The Aces defeated the Liberty by a score of 95-81. The win saw them fall 2-1 in the best-of-five series and keep their season alive for at least a few more days. The game was evenly balanced at the start: there were a WNBA playoff record 18 lead changes in the first half. But Las Vegas broke through in the third quarter and never looked back.

“That was probably our most complete game of the season,” Hammon said. “The game I waited for and believed in.”

That meant a balanced, comprehensive scoring effort from all guards, something rare for the Aces this season. They almost always enjoy serious productions MVP forward A'ja Wilson. But that too often came without solid performances from more than one guard. The first two games of the series had been lacking: There was an outstanding night from Kelsey Plum (24 points in Game 1) and consistently good play from Jackie Young, but there had yet to be a game in which all three starting guards played clicked, not to mention one where all three scored in double figures. The Aces finally did that when they dismantled the Liberty on Friday. Young scored 24 points, Plum had 20 and Chelsea Gray added 10 with seven assists. Finally, they also received double figures from another guard, 11 for Tiffany Hayes on the same day she was named Sixth Player of the Year. It represented the type of guard play Hammon had been trying to unlock all year.

“Man, we’ve been waiting for that too,” Gray said afterwards, laughing.

Your central problems from last week suddenly seemed to disappear. The Aces defense looked cohesive. Players no longer got lost at switches. They reduce sloppy play and careless turnovers. And they were able to put pressure on the Liberty in a way that was very rare for the WNBA's best team this season. (There was only one game this year in which they scored fewer points.) Despite a remarkable advantage of scale for New York– which was crucial in the first two games of this series – Las Vegas was able to secure the victory. In Game 2, the Liberty had a 44-24 point lead. Game 3 nearly turned that number around, with the Aces up 42-28, including an impressive job limiting New York center Jonquel Jones.

“This isn't easy,” said Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, who led the team with 19 points, below her average for these playoffs. “And that’s what we saw tonight.”

New York defender Sabrina Ionescu had the most impressive defensive effort in Las Vegas. The first two games of this series were defined in large part by their ability to score at all three levels. The Aces didn't let them score on any of them in Game 3. They held them scoreless for the entire first three quarters and held them to just four points total. (It was her worst score of the year, aside from the final game of the regular season, when she got limited minutes in a contest with nothing to play for.) They trapped her at the fence, but did their best to keep them even from driving. She only made seven shots.

“They gave Sabrina very little space, were so active with their hands and were able to tolerate distractions,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “It felt very physical.”

It was a showcase of what this Aces team can be at its best. So they won another game – and nothing more.

“The moment you get comfortable, you’re exposed,” Gray said. “We haven’t done anything yet.”