NEW YORK — In the belly of Barclays Center on Sunday, Becky Hammon called Game 2 of her team’s semifinal series against the New York Liberty “do-or-die” after the Las Vegas Aces lost the opener.
After the two-time defending champions dropped that one, too, 88-84, on Tuesday night, all the coach could do was adjust her outlook.
“Did I say it was a must-win? I was lying,” Hammon said with a smile. “At the end of the day, we have neither lost or won a championship. Nothing has been won tonight. Now, do we have an uphill battle? Absolutely we do. There’s no doubt about that. However, all New York did was do what New York should do, which is defending their home court. It’s a series. We fully intend on pushing it five games.”
The series shifts to the desert Friday with the Liberty needing to win just once to advance to the championship series for the second straight season.
On the other side of the bracket, the No. 2 seed Minnesota Lynx evened their series with a 77-70 victory over the No. 3 seed Connecticut Sun. Those teams will resume play Friday in Uncasville, Conn.
The drama was high in New York, where Sabrina Ionescu scored 11 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter and continued to prove herself as one of the most improved players in the league. The Aces had pulled within one with 2:01 remaining, but then the 2020 No. 1 draft pick hit a runner, then a jumper, then free throws to put the game away. Moments earlier, Aces guard Chelsea Gray pushed Ionescu into the front row of the crowd and onto the lap of Knicks legend Carmelo Anthony. Before reaching the foul line, Ionescu looked back and gave Anthony a knowing smile.
She stared into the crowd, mouth open in a gaping smile, as the buzzer sounded and held up a victorious fist reminiscent of Michael Jordan.
“In the big moments, she just really steps up,” Liberty center Jonquel Jones said. “She doesn’t shy away from the moments, and just the confidence that she has in herself and the confidence that we have in her as teammates to go out there and make those big shots. My job is easy. I get her open and I’m available and I let her do her thing. Just the way she is is just a superstar and someone that really shines brightest in the biggest moments.”
Liberty Coach Sandy Brondello added, “Sabrina was massive down the stretch.”
The Aces haven’t lost a playoff series since Hammon was hired before the 2022 season and are now in more danger than at any other time during this dominant run. The organization is chasing history — no team in the WNBA, the NBA, MLB, the NFL or the NHL has won three straight titles since 2002. Hammon has continually said the Liberty has been a hungry and focused team all season — and she said her team may have lost its edge.
“This is why three-peating is hard,” Hammon said. “The whole league has been pissed off for the last eight months, and my players are in commercials and this and that and being fricking celebrities and you get distracted. That’s why it’s hard — because human nature is distracting.”
The Aces looked like a desperate team early and determined to punch first, leading 27-22 after the first quarter, but that didn’t last. New York went on a 13-2 run that spanned the quarters, and Hammon burned two timeouts. After the second, she was demonstrative with some choice words for her team, and then she sat down on the bench not speaking to her players as they gathered together. She eventually rejoined the group.
The night was similar to Game 1 in many ways. Frequent Aces turnovers — 11 in the first half — led to the Liberty getting out in transition for easy buckets. Ionescu had the biggest moments, but the Liberty delivered a group effort: Stewart finished with 15 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, and Jones added 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Courtney Vandersloot scored 12 points and Kayla Thornton chipped in nine, both off the bench.
A’ja Wilson scored 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Aces, and Jackie Young scored 17 points. Kelsey Plum struggled with 2-for-9 shooting after her phenomenal Game 1.
In Minneapolis, the Lynx led for most of their game, and point guard Courtney Williams hit big shots in the fourth quarter before finishing with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists. Alanna Smith scored 15 points as MVP runner-up Napheesa Collier was held to nine points (but grabbed 12 rebounds) despite playing all 40 minutes. Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas had 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, while DeWanna Bonner finished with 17 points, six rebounds and five steals. But the Sun scored just four points off the bench and shot 36.4 percent.
A new champion will be crowned if the Aces can’t pull off a historic comeback. No team in WNBA history has come back from being down 2-0 in a best-of-five series. And this is a Liberty team that has been hyper-focused on avenging the 2023 Finals defeat at the hands of the Aces.
“Being up 2-0, it’s great, but we haven’t won anything,” Ionescu said. “I think everyone knows that. We did what we were supposed to do — win two at home. But it’s not like we’re patting ourselves on the back and celebrating and talking about how happy we are. This isn’t what we came to. We didn’t come to just win two games at home and then be satisfied. We’re a hungry group. Obviously, we’re pleased with the way we came out today. … Now have a great opportunity to go and take that first one at their home court. That’s what our goal is, and that’s where we’re going to go.”
