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Welcome to the WNBA Finals! Liberty and Aces face off in Vegas – Nets Daily
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For the first time in 20 years, the New York Liberty are in the WNBA Finals, facing the Las Vegas Aces in Las Vegas
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It’s time. For the first time since 2002, the New York Liberty have a chance to compete in the WNBA Finals. They got here after surviving an intense, hard fought battle on the road against the Connecticut Sun. It’s been a 21-year odyssey for New York, and this series will bring the best out of them.
The last obstacle in New York’s quest for a championship is the Las Vegas Aces. The reigning champions have been as good as advertised and have a chance to be the first repeat champions since the Los Angeles Sparks two decades ago. They made it to this point after surviving an intense, hard fought battle of their own against the Dallas Wings. Vegas has a chance at history, so look for them to leave everything out there.
ABC is the place to be. Tip after 3:00 p.m. ET.
The Liberty have also set up two watch parties for Games 1 and 2.
Han Xu has overseas commitments and is out. Han just competed in the Asia Games and walked away with another win!
To be as good as men, if not better！巾帼不让须眉！Han Xu（韩旭）, a WNBA player of the New York Liberty @nyliberty, played a key role in China’s women’s basketball team who retained #AsianGames title after beating Japan in the final in #Hangzhou on Thursday. Congratulations to… pic.twitter.com/3gfSzdawTn
Candace Parker was seen at the Aces practice facility and out of her walking boot. She hasn’t played since July and will not be playing today. No Riquna Williams due to her legal situation.
In the regular season, Vegas took games one and three while New York got games two, four and the Commissioner’s Cup.
For a bit more on this game, check me out as I preview the series with Misha Jones and Erica Ayala on the Gotta Get Up podcast!
Part two is here
Turnovers will be the name of the game. In each of the Liberty’s losses, they lost the turnover battle by a wide margin. They’ve gotten better at taking care of the ball and in game four vs. the Sun, they were able to gradually adapt to the traps the Sun threw at them. Against a defense like this, the Liberty have to make sure they get the most out of every single possession possible.
This series will be won in the trenches, and the Liberty have one of the best interior players at the peak of her powers. Jonquel Jones has been a double-double machine and the Liberty’s best player in the playoffs. When Jones won the Commissioner’s Cup MVP, she dominated the Aces on the inside and made them feel the loss of Candace Parker even more. Last round, the Aces faced the best offensive rebounding team in the playoffs. Now they see the second best o-rebounding team and a relentless rebounder in Jones. Kiah Stokes has battled on the inside, and her teammates will need to help her out to match the Liberty on the interior.
For a lot of Liberty players, this will be their first appearances in the Finals. At media availability on Friday, I asked Kayla Thornton what will be key to not having those first Finals jitters:
“Just coming out and being the aggressors, coming out and putting our foot down and understanding that it’s gonna be a game of runs. But you know, just being able to control the wave and being able to stay mellow through the highs and lows. And I think we’ve done a great job thus far in this playoff run of just staying together through it all, and I think that’s gonna just be the biggest thing for us.”
Sandy Brondello has maintained a calm demeanor for her group, and as someone who’s been on this stage plenty of times, she knows all the right buttons to push.
Guard play may very well determine this one. The trio of Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray, and Jackie Young have been instrumental to the Aces’ success and provide the perfect punch of scoring, playmaking, and finishing at the rim. The New York trio of Courtney Vandersloot, Sabrina Ionescu, and Betnijah Laney provide the same and can each take over a game when the moment calls for it. In the past few matchups, the Liberty have given Laney the assignment of guarding Gray full court, and it’s been successful. When you see a team as often as these two have seen each other, adjustments will be made.
How much of the bench will we see in game one? Alysha Clark is the only reliable option Becky Hammon utilizes on her bench while the Liberty turn to Marine Johannes, Kayla Thornton and Stefanie Dolson on the second unit. The Liberty haven’t used their bench much in the past few games and with a few days off before game two, we’ll see how both coaches deploy their benches.
The rea; MVP, leader of the next generation, whatever you want to call her, A’ja Wilson has been sensational this playoffs and has built off of another MVP caliber season. She’s first in blocks, second in scoring and third in rebounds this postseason. When Wilson has enough space to operate, she is impossible to handle and can punish everyone in her way. She didn’t dominate against the Liberty in the regular season, but she started having more success in the final two matchups. Over at the W’s website, Nekias Duncan of The Dunker Spot wrote about the cat and mouse game between Wilson and the Liberty defense:
“During the season, the Liberty toggled between Jones and Stewart as Wilson’s primary defender, with the other serving as a helper behind the action. Laney, who mostly defended Chelsea Gray, provided an extra layer of help from the nail (free throw line area) to disrupt Wilson’s drives.
“The Aces have shown a willingness to run Wilson off of screens throughout the season and throughout this matchup. Don’t be surprised if that trend continues, especially when Jones defends Wilson. However, It may be more imperative for the Aces to manipulate their spacing to limit some of the nail help they’ve seen from Laney.”
If the Liberty are able to slow Wilson down enough, it will short-circuit this historic Aces offense.
This year’s MVP and AP Player of the Year, Breanna Stewart, has started to find her groove on offense. After some struggles against the Washington Mystics and in the first two games vs. the Sun, Stew York started to figure things out. She’s shot well from the field in each of the last two games and perhaps most importantly, has started to find the three ball again. The Liberty offense works best when the ball is moving from side to side and when they get two feet in the paint. We already know Stewart is gonna bring it on defense, and if she can get those good looks on offense, it’ll force the Aces into making a bunch of adjustments.
Expect the Nets, already in Vegas for their preseason opener vs. the Lakers Monday, to make a showing at the game. Mikal Bridges has been the Liberty’s biggest fan among the Nets this season. He said he’s opening that there will be a large contingent of fellow Brooklynites at the game.
Amidst all the hype and fun of this Finals matchup, there’s a disturbing undercurrent. A few days ago, it was announced that former Aces forward Dearica Hamby filed a complaint against the Aces and WNBA with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Hamby alleged among other things that Becky Hammon and Aces management mistreated her, her former teammates stopped speaking to her once she made her allegations, the team traded her because she was pregnant, and the Aces even tried accessing her OBGYN records once she was no longer a member of the team. No one from the Aces or league office has commented on this latest development, but Commissioner Cathy Engelbert will be holding media availability prior to the start of this one. We’ll see what she says when she meets with the media.
Ashanti is the halftime performer in Las Vegas and she ran the music world the last time the Liberty were in the Finals
More reading: Swish Appeal, The Strickland, The Local W, New York Daily News, New York Post, The Athletic. Fansided, Just Women’s Sports, SI All Knicks, Winsidr, Her Hoop Stats, CBS Sports, and The Next
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