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WNBA Finals: Las Vegas Aces' backcourt duo key in Game 1 victory over New York Liberty – CBS Sports
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LAS VEGAS — When it came to the play of the Las Vegas Aces’ guards, they came up, well, like aces in Sunday’s Game 1 of the WNBA Finals against the New York Liberty.
“Our trio of guards I thought were pretty ridiculous,” Aces head coach Becky Hammon said after Las Vegas’ 99-82 win before a sold-out crowd of 10,300.
The Aces had four players eclipse double-digit points and were led by 26-point performances by Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum. Aces point guard Chelsea Gray added 20 points, and 2023 Defensive Player of the Year forward A’ja Wilson added 19 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
“I think we were just trying to play out of our defense, get defensive stops and play in transition,” said Young, adding that getting downhill and having success in the paint was also part of the Aces’ game plan. Las Vegas outscored New York 42-32 in the key.
“Jackie is my rookie. She’s the baby sister that I never wanted,” Wilson deadpanned. “People raised an eyebrow at us when we drafted her number one [in 2019] … and I was like, ‘You need to prove every single night that you are the number one draft pick.'”
Wilson said she feels duty-bound to make Young slightly uncomfortable with the end goal of getting the best out of her, and sometimes that comes in the form of tough love. “That’s who we need every single night.”
The ability to penetrate and get downhill is a huge part of what Young and Plum can offer from the backcourt. Young is also a solid defender who can supercharge Las Vegas’ transition game.
“She’s just one of those people that keeps her nose to the ground, and I’ve just encouraged her to be aggressive, whatever that means,” Hammon said about Young. “She’s a great decision-maker. She’s a big, strong guard that has defense first.”
Although the Aces secured a 17-point win, the Liberty were up by three points at the half, in large part to the offense of Marine Johannes and Jonquel Jones. French guard Johannes went 5 of 9 from the floor, including four three-pointers. The 14 points from Johannes at halftime were more than starting guards Betnijah Laney, Sabrina Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot combined.
“I had some tough shots [that] went in, sometimes that will happen. You get a little bit of luck,” Johannes told CBS Sports. It seems reductive to call her shots and her impact luck, especially when Johannes displayed a similar degree of difficulty in the Liberty’s 82-63 win in the Commissioner’s Cup championship in the same arena in August.
“Apparently, Johannes really likes to play against us. She hits tough ones,” Hammon said. “I’m just a huge fan, you know, other than when she’s playing us.”
Despite the loss, there is no panic for the Liberty ahead of Wednesday’s Game 2 (6 p.m. on ESPN) in Las Vegas.
“We’ll use this as a growth opportunity. We have a few people that have experience here at the finals, but all of us haven’t done this together,” Vandersloot told CBS Sports. “Now we know what it’s like. We were out there in Game 1, it was loud, the crowd was insane. And this is like a period for us to kind of grow together and just really make sure we’re connected.”
The Liberty have avoided dropping back-to-back games all season long and have no intention of starting now. WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart felt the ball got stuck in the second half of the game. New York, a team that averaged over 24 assists per game in the regular season, was held to 17 assists on the night. Moving forward, the frontcourt must do a better job of opening the paint for guard penetration
“They went under [the screen] a lot on us,” Stewart said. She wants post players to establish better positioning to give Liberty guards a better opportunity to attack the basket.
As for the Aces, they gave their first-half performance a failing grade, according to Hammon. However, the second half saw the defensive game pick up. The Aces threw a trap at Johannes and effectively kept the ball out of her hands. Additionally, Young and Plum continued to slash toward the rim and open lanes. However, Plum is not banking on the same results come Wednesday.
“I know they are not going to let me get there,” Plum said. “But that’s what [Liberty coach] Sandy [Brondello] is; she’s a great coach. They’ll be adjustments made, they’re great players, and we’re in a war.”
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