LAS VEGAS — In the end, the brilliance of A’ja Wilson wasn’t enough.
The 2024 MVP has been spectacular all season, turning in a career year to earn the third MVP award of her young career. But for much of the season, the Las Vegas Aces were plagued by a lack of consistency from their All-Star guard trio.
On Sunday, that year-long issue surfaced again. And this time, it ended their season.
New York’s Sabrina Ionescu led all scorers with 22 points while Breanna Stewart scored 19 and grabbed 14 rebounds as the top-seeded New York Liberty defeated Las Vegas, 76-62, in Game 4 in Michelob ULTRA Arena to take the semifinal series 3-1.
Ionescu, who was held to just four points in Game 3, said on Sunday she was just “continuing to read the game, understanding what I didn’t do well last game and able to adjust quickly. You go back, you watch film, and you figure out ways to improve.”
That might be selling herself a little short. She opened with a 3, then hit a pretty floater — drawing a foul in the process — then hit two more 3s, all before the first quarter ended. It gave New York a 23-19 lead and the jump start the Liberty badly needed after Game 3.
The loss ends the Aces’ bid to be the first WNBA three-peat title-winner since 1999.
‘I HAVE RECEIPTS’: Breanna Stewart emotional after Liberty get revenge over Aces
The Liberty will play the winner of Minnesota Lynx-Connecticut Sun series in the Finals, which starts Thursday in New York. As the No. 1 seed, New York will have home-court advantage throughout the series; the home-home-away-away-away-home format for the finals is the same as it was in the semis.
Stewart emphasized that while it’s nice to go back to the Finals for a second consecutive year, “we haven’t done anything yet.”
The New York-Las Vegas series was a rematch of the 2023 Finals, which Las Vegas won in four games, the title secured on the Liberty’s floor. It is widely considered the best rivalry in the WNBA.
Two years ago, the Liberty revamped their roster through free agency with the expressed goal of dethroning the Aces, who had won the 2022 title. Last season, in a clip circulated on social media, Vegas coach Becky Hammon told her players regarding New York, “This team was put together to take you out.”
And Sunday, the Liberty did exactly that.
Wilson scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Kelsey Plum added 17, but the Aces other guards Chelsey Gray (seven points on 3-of-8 shooting) and Jackie Young (four points on 1-of-10 shooting) were mostly non-factors offensively.
“What I’ve always tried to convey to this group, with our guards — Chels, Kels and Jack — is their success is so intertwined with each other,” Hammon said. “Their individual greatness comes from being great together … and we just didn’t shoot the ball well this year.”
That was true Sunday, too. Vegas connected on only 32.8% of its attempts, including 23.3% from 3. The guard trio combined to shoot a dismal 26.4% (9-of-34) overall.
Meanwhile, the Liberty hit just under 40% of its shots, and 41.7% of its 3s. The best perimeter performance came from Ionescu (5-of-8 from 3) and, when she wasn’t stuck on the bench in foul trouble, forward Jonquel Jones (3-of-5). After a tight third quarter, the Liberty outscored the Aces 23-11 in the fourth, with Jones hitting two key 3s: At 4:57 to give New York a 67-53 lead and then the dagger with 2:04 left to put the Liberty up 74-56. She finished with 14 points.
“She was really big for us,” said New York coach Sandy Brondello, who collided with Jones at one point on the sideline, which sent both of them to the ground. Brondello popped right back up, joking afterward “I’ve still got it.”
“She was important for us to win this series,” Brondello said of Jones. “She was really frustrated with her fouls, but I thought she maintained her emotional stability, (and) hit three really big shots for us.”
Other big shots for the Liberty: Layups. Hammon had harped all series about how many easy looks New York got at the rim, and her fiery timeout in Game 2 to drill her team about it went viral on social media.
That problem crept back in the fourth quarter Sunday, when New York opened the period with four layups on its first six possessions to build a 61-53 lead with just over six minutes to play.
“The layup thing still irks me,” Hammon said. “You can’t give up layups.”
Hammon was reflective after the loss, praising her team its perseverance and emphasizing that ‘I choose that locker room every time.’ But she got emotional talking about Wilson, whose record-breaking season will not end with a championship.
Hammon offered some lighter moments postgame, too.
The loss sets Vegas up for an interesting offseason. In December, the league will hold its first expansion draft in more than a decade, with the Golden State Valkyries set to join the league for the 2025 season. Each team can protect six players, which means the Aces’ “core four” of Wilson, Plum, Gray and Young should stay together — but it also means the roster as a whole could look considerably different next year.
Asked what needs to change from an organizational standpoint, Hammon laughed and asked for a week to think on it. She acknowledged that this offseason isn’t what the Aces are used to.
“We’ve never done exit meetings before,” Hammon said. “We’ve done exit partying.”
