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Liberty vs. Aces score: New York wins 2023 WNBA Commissioner's Cup championship for franchise's first trophy – CBS Sports
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After 27 seasons, the New York Liberty finally have their first trophy. One of the league’s three remaining original franchises, the Liberty pulled away from the host Las Vegas Aces in the second half of the Commissioner’s Cup championship on Tuesday night for a comfortable 82-63 victory. Jonquel Jones was named MVP of the game after putting up 16 points and 15 rebounds.
As the final score indicates, what was supposed to be a showdown between two of the best offenses the league has ever seen did not transpire. It took 3:31 for anyone to score, and 3:48 for anyone to make a shot from the field. Save for a few short runs by each team, that trend largely continued for the rest of the night. Increased defensive intensity from the regular season played a part, but both teams missed plenty of open shots.
In the end, the difference proved to be the Liberty’s ability to find their range from downtown in the second half, and their more productive bench. They finished 15 of 35 from 3-point land, compared to 5 of 26 for the Aces. Five of those Liberty 3s were made by Marine Johannes, who came off the bench to pour in a game-high 17 points. New York’s bench outscored Las Vegas’ 28 to eight.
Although the game does not count in the standings, the Liberty (24-6) are the first team to win on the Aces’ floor this season. Las Vegas (27-3) had been 15-0 at home, but they’ll have a chance to get back at New York when they meet again on Thursday at the Michelob ULTRA Arena. The two teams will also play on Aug. 28 in New York.
For winning, each player on the Liberty earned a $30,000 bonus from the $500,000 prize pool, with Jones receiving an extra $5,000 for winning MVP.
Here are some key takeaways from the game:
After a slow start to the season, Jonquel Jones has returned to her best MVP form since the All-Star break, and that was evident once again on Tuesday night. She was the best player on the floor, finishing with 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting to go along with 15 rebounds and two blocks en route to earning Commissioner’s Cup MVP honors.
This game doesn’t count towards regular season statistics, but it’s the ninth double-double in 13 games for Jones since the All-Star break, compared to just two in 18 games prior to the mid-season event. In addition, the Liberty are now 13-0 when she gets at least 10 shot attempts, with nine of those games coming since play resumed after the break.
🌟 Just MVP things 🌟@jus242 put up a complete performance vs. the Aces to lead the @nyliberty to their first ever Commissioner’s Cup Championship:
🗽 16 PTS
🗽 15 REB
🗽 2 BLK#CommissionersCup | @coinbase pic.twitter.com/8n8Qsfeekc
Some of that is Jones getting fully healthy, some of it is the Liberty getting her more involved and some of it is Jones simply reminding everyone why she’s one of the best players in the world. She’s an extremely efficient interior scorer, a dominant rebounder on both sides of the glass and one of the most impactful rim protectors around.
Against the Aces, Jones shot 3 of 5 in the paint, pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds — there have only been 17 instances of a player grabbing at least that many rebounds in a game this season, and Jones has three of them in the last three weeks — and helped hold A’ja Wilson to a 2-of-10 shooting performance.
As this win showed, the Liberty are a completely different team when Jones is playing at this level.
When the Aces signed two-time MVP Candace Parker in the offseason, it was such a coup that it seemed borderline unfair for the rest of the league. And with her in the lineup the Aces were essentially unstoppable, going 16-2. To their credit, they’ve been nearly as impressive without her, going 11-2 since she underwent surgery on her fractured left foot.
It’s notable, though, that both of those losses were to the Liberty, and were by far the worst defeats they’ve suffered all season. Even without Parker, they have the talent to overwhelm every other opponent, but against the Liberty they do not. Parker’s playmaking and shooting on offense, her versatility on defense and veteran experience in all facets of the game are all greatly missed against the Liberty.
The most notable differences in these last two games has been the Liberty’s ability to slow down A’ja Wilson, which is a direct result of Parker’s absence. Let’s take a closer look.
Wilson scored nine points on 2 of 10 from the field on Tuesday after nine points on 2 of 14 against the Liberty on Aug. 6 — two of her three lowest scoring games of the season and her two most inefficent outings. The Liberty have two of the best interior defenders in the league in Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones, which is already going to make things difficult. With Parker sidelined, it’s much easier for both of them to key in on Wilson.
Take this drive early in the third quarter for example. Wilson tries to turn the corner on Stewart, but when she gets into the lane she has Jones — who is completely ignoring Kiah Stokes — waiting for her. Instead of getting to the rim, Wilson is forced into a tough fadeaway over two elite defenders.
Same thing later in the period. The Aces clear out one side of the floor and get Wilson the ball on the block against Stewart. Again, Jones leaves the player she’s guarding — Alysha Clark this time — to come double. Wilson now has to worry about being sandwiched by that duo as she attempts a hook shot.
Not only did Wilson struggle to make shots in this game, she struggled to get them. She only took seven shots in the paint and none in the restricted area. For the season, she leads the league in points in the paint, averaging 12 per game.
Stokes and Clark are both very solid role players, but the Liberty do not respect either of them as much as Parker. Neither is anywhere near as good of a playmaker, and Stokes is not a 3-point threat whatsoever. While Clark can shoot the ball, the Liberty are, perhaps reasonably so, betting she won’t make enough 3s to beat them.
All of which is leading to a very tough time for Wilson, and in turn, the Aces.
Marine Johannes is one of the most exciting players in the league, but she’s not just a highlight machine. She’s a key piece off the bench for the Liberty, as we saw against the Aces. She drained five 3-pointers and poured in a game-high 17 points to outscore the Aces’ bench by herself, and she added a few key assists.
It wasn’t just the production, but the timing of Johannes’ shot-making and passing.
Late in the first quarter, she checked in with both teams struggling mightily to find any sort of offensive rhythm. She immediately drained two 3-pointers, then assisted on one and hit two more of her own on the other side of the quarter break to give the Liberty their first double-digit lead of the game. It was a similar story in the second half. After the Aces had worked their way back into the game, Johannes entered and led an extended 15-7 run that put the Liberty back up by double figures for good.
MARINE. JOHANNES.@MarineJ5 has 12 PTS & is 4-5 from beyond the arc on @PrimeVideo!#CommissionersCup | @coinbase pic.twitter.com/62SFcixQzx
Looking ahead to the remaining regular season matchups — as well as a potential Finals showdown — between these two teams, Johannes is an obvious difference-maker. The Aces simply don’t have anyone on their bench who can come in and give them an offensive spark like Johannes can.
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