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The Las Vegas Aces will not hoist a third straight championship following a Game 4 loss to the New York Liberty.
Facing elimination for a second straight game, Las Vegas fell to New York, 76-62, Sunday, Oct. 6 from the Michelob Ultra Arena in Game 4 of the WNBA Semifinals. In seven games played against the Liberty this season including the playoffs, the Aces only came away with one win.
“Kudos to them,” head coach Becky Hammon said. “They’ve been the best team all year, let’s be real. We needed back-to-back really great games because their sense of urgency was going to be different. I think they’re group earned it, they earned it all year.
”We talked a lot of smack last year, I’m sure they heard it and they got to smack us this year. For us, we will have a long offseason and for us, we will be back next season.”
No team in the WNBA has come back from an 0-2 hole in a best-of-5-series including this year’s back-to-back defending champs. Las Vegas was looking to become the first team in the league to win three straight titles in 25 years.
“The season is so chaotic sometimes and you’re constantly running, forward A’ja Wilson said. “You miss out on loving on people. I think this year we really noticed that we really have to pour into each other daily.”
Moreover, it’s the first time under Hammon that Las Vegas will not win a championship. Her fourth offseason as the team’s president of basketball operations looms.
“We’ve never done exit meetings,” Hammon said. “We’ve done exit partying […] Obviously we have to get better, we have to take a sharp look at ourselves — look ourselves in the mirror, see our shortcomings and then you’ve got to make the moves necessary.
“Whatever that means to put the best productive that we possibly can. It’s not going to be the same group probably next year, it just won’t and I’m sad about that.”
In an uphill battle for most of the game, the Aces found themselves down it’s largest deficit about midway through the fourth quarter. A two-point hole at the end of three was blown open in the fourth.
”I felt like we were panicking a little bit,” Hammon said about an early fourth quarter timeout. “There was more than enough time. The last [timeout] was just grasping for straws.”
Just before the third quarter ended, it appeared guard Jackie Young cashed in on a half court three-pointer that would’ve given her team a one-point lead heading into the final 10 minutes. During the quarter break, that shot was waved off.
That would’ve given the home team its first lead since leading 3-0 to start the game.
In the first half, the Aces fell behind by as many as 10 points behind strong play from Liberty stars Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart. Every time it looked like Las Vegas would gain a little momentum it would prove to be short-lived.
“This team was put together to take us out,” Hammon said. “And [it] did.”
The tandem of Ionescu and Stewart made eight of its first 10 shot attempts from the field while the rest of New York’s team started 2-for-11. By halftime, the two Olympians combined for 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting versus 14 points on 5-of-19 for everyone else in blue.
“We talked our crap, they heard it,” Hammon said. “And they get to talk their crap, it’s part of the game. It’s nothing personal.”
In total, the Aces held their opponent to 39% shooting as a team but would eventually be burned by 13 offensive rebounds. As a result, Las Vegas lost the rebounding battle, 48-27.
Despite the defensive shooting numbers, the Las Vegas offense couldn’t get much going itself. This includes several misses from point blank range on layup attempts.
The 62 points put up go down as a season-low for the team. All three of the lowest scoring outputs for the team this season have come against New York.
“At the end of the day, we didn’t have it shooting-wise,” Hammon said. “Thought we had good looks, we missed […] You can’t win against a team like that shooting 32% [and] 23% from three and absolutely get your asses handed to you on the glass.”
Wilson scored a team-high 19 points as she tallied her 26th double-double of 2024. She also did it on the other end posting five blocks and a steal.
Guard Kelsey Plum added 17 points as the only other starter to reach double-figure points. The starting guard trio of Young, Plum and Gray combined to shoot 9-for-34 from the field.
“You look at Minnesota, you have good talent [and] you have an excellent team,” Hammon said. “We had excellent talent and had a good team. This game rewards your habits, hard work and selflessness.”
Sixth Player of the Year Tiffany Hayes was the final player in double-figures with 11 points off-the-bench.
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