Sports
Liberty crushed by Aces in lopsided Game 1 loss to spoil WNBA Finals return – New York Post
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Sandy Brondello’s first move in the Liberty-Aces chess match worked perfectly.
She turned to her bench earlier than expected, used Marine Johannes in the first quarter and then watched the guard score 14 points in 11 minutes — including an off-balanced 3-pointer off one leg — to help the Liberty build a three-point halftime lead.
And then the spark from that tweak faded. Nearly everything else about the Liberty’s Game 1 performance backfired or flat-out failed in their 99-82 loss to the Aces on Sunday in Las Vegas.
In an WNBA Finals with the league’s two superteams, the Aces provided a sharp reminder that they were the original one of the pair, the reigning champions who earned the No. 1 seed and returned all five starters.
It’d take more than one adjustment to silence them.
Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum each scored 26 points, while MVP finalist A’ja Wilson added 19 in front of celebrities including Tom Brady, Raiders owner Mark Davis and a handful of Nets players at the Michelob ULTRA Arena. Breanna Stewart scored 21 points, but the Liberty’s defense crumbled — especially the guards tasked with containing Young and Plum — and allowed their most points of the 2023 season.
“It’s a series,” Brondello said following the game. “They took the first punch, and now we have to respond.”
A close game after 20 minutes quickly spiraled into a blowout, spoiling the Liberty’s return to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2002. Brondello said the Liberty’s 11 turnovers felt like they should’ve been more.
Beyond their porous defense, she added the Aces’ defense was the best she has seen them play. And the Liberty, who haven’t lost consecutive games this season, face a daunting uphill climb to unseat Las Vegas.
Still, they led at halftime before their defense allowed 53 points across the final 20 minutes. And of all the stars in this Finals, of the past — and current — MVP winners who could take over games, the Liberty went as far as Johannes took them in the opening quarters.
Johannes’ postseason cameos had been minimal, five minutes here and five minutes there but then nothing in the semifinal-clinching victory against the Sun.
Johannes hit 4 of 5 3-pointers to start Sunday and began her scoring with a backdoor cut through the paint. In the second quarter, she launched an acrobatic 3-point heave like it was a layup, but she still sank the shot.
“Shooting a one-legged 3, I’m just a huge fan,” Aces head coach Becky Hammon said, “other than when she’s playing us.”
It helped the Liberty overcome an early scare when Jonquel Jones, who recorded double-doubles in each of their first six postseason games and did again Sunday, appeared to injure her ankle and limped down the tunnel. Jones returned for the start of the second quarter, and she said postgame that she got taped up and felt fine.
But Johannes’ spark also underscored the need for production from the Liberty’s guards. Courtney Vandersloot kept struggling from the field, shooting just 1-for-7 before Brondello turned to Johannes again — without the same results — midway through the third quarter.
Sabrina Ionescu made just one 3 and finished with seven points, too.
“Our guards, they just had a little bit of a tough night,” Brondello said. “That’s not going to happen two games in a row. We believe in them.”
During that time, the Liberty’s defense, which had experimented with both man-to-man and zone at the start, struggled.
Las Vegas scored 26 points across a 10-minute interval in the second half, including 12 points from Young.
Stewart said the Liberty’s forwards needed to protect the paint behind the guards, and Brondello added the Aces’ movement forced them out of position.
That turned a close Game 1 with plenty of pregame — and pre-series — anticipation into an ugly blowout. It’s one that, at least for the next three days, will make this series seem like something that could spiral out of control for the Liberty.
Their storybook dream back to the Finals, with the superteam and the stars and everything that accompanied that hype, received a reality check.
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