Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young, right, celebrates with Chelsea Gray after making a basket and drawing a foul during the second half of Game 2 in a WNBA basketball final playoff series against the New York Liberty at Michelob Ultra Arena Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023.
Published Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023 | 8:08 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023 | 11:43 p.m.
There's a song composed by Robert W. Smith called “Into the Storm” that perfectly describes what happened in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals on Wednesday.
It starts with melodic chords from clarinets in a solid forte, a loud volume. They set the stage for the first four measures. By bar No. 5, gradual percussion leads into a powerful first note from the symphony that sets the tone for the “storm." It continues with a fast tempo that doesn’t slow until midway through.
That’s the best way to describe the first three minutes, 59 seconds of what the Las Vegas Aces did to the New York Liberty. The game started with a smooth rhythm.
Then the storm hit. And it hit the Liberty hard.
The Aces opened Game 2 with a 19-2 run in the first four minutes, and that carried throughout the night with the Aces winning 104-76 over New York at Michelob Ultra Arena to take a 2-0 series lead in the finals.
Through two games of what was supposed to be the most highly anticipated WNBA Finals in league history, it’s the defending champions dominating at almost every facet. They have been the better team through six of eight quarters. They have slowed down Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu to the point of near ineffectiveness.
And now, the Aces will head to Brooklyn with a chance to win their second consecutive WNBA championship and put a cap on what can be deemed the greatest season in league history. Game 3 is Sunday at Barclays Center (noon, ESPN).
“The character of this team and their absolute buy-in to the person to their left or right’s success is authentic,” coach Becky Hammon said, “They don’t leave me speechless very often, but they executed defensively, offensively, sharing, everything we’ve been asking them to do.”
The Aces have made it well known that they like to play out of their defense. When they get stops and get going in transition, they’re unstoppable.
Funny enough, the game didn’t start with the Aces' defense. It began with a 3-pointer from Kelsey Plum, who opened with two makes from deep in the Aces’ first three baskets.
The storm kept hitting. Center Kiah Stokes, who hit five 3-pointers all regular season, hit two in the first three minutes. Jackie Young, coming off a 26-point outing in Game 1, also hit a three in that stretch. Stokes’ layup with 6:01 left in the opening frame capped off the incredible run.
The Aces scored a WNBA Finals record 38 points in the first quarter and led 38-19.
“Great defense, playing out of our defense, unselfish,” point guard Chelsea Gray said of how to describe the 19-2 run. “Our physicality went up another level at the start of the game.”
It’s uncommon for more than three players to sit at the postgame podium after a playoff game. The Aces had all five starters across one table, and each deserved to be up there.
A’ja Wilson finished with a game-high 26 points and 15 rebounds; Young proved Game 1 was no fluke with 24 points and eight rebounds; Plum once again remained in control of her offensive game with 23 points and eight assists; and Gray flashed moments of her shotmaking from last year’s run to being Finals MVP with 14 points and 11 assists. Stokes had eight points and seven rebounds in 29 minutes.
The Liberty regained form in the second quarter by cutting the once-22-point lead down to six. Las Vegas took a 52-44 lead into the break and were met with “profound” words from Hammon in the locker room.
In Game 1, the Aces turned it in their favor in the third quarter with a 26-16 edge thanks to the play of Young and Wilson. Game 2 was almost identical, but a much more dominant effort. The Aces outscored the Liberty 28-13 in the third with Young (11) and Wilson (10) once again leading the charge.
The Aces shot 58% in the third, while their defense kept the Liberty to just 31.2%.
“They’re the real deal,” Hammon said of her team’s character in the third. “Their competitiveness and their fight for each other, they’re a real team.”
The Aces had no answer in the first half from Liberty center Jonquel Jones; she had 19 points and 10 rebounds at halftime with seven of those rebounds coming from the offensive glass. Jones was held to three points in the second half.
Stewart, this year’s league MVP, finished with 14 points on 6 of 17 shooting. Ionescu, after going 2 of 7 in Game 1, was held to 2 of 10 in Game 2.
When the Aces and Liberty played each other four times between Aug. 6-28, it was during a stretch of 11 games in 22 days. The Aces were exhausted at the tail-end of that trip. Hammon knew coming back home that with rest, they would get back to their level of excellence.
Since coming back after that final regular season meeting in New York on Aug. 28, the Aces have not lost a game; four regular season games, and now seven straight in the playoffs. Only two have been decided by single digits.
The series is far from over, and the Aces know that. They were up 2-0 on Connecticut in last year’s finals and lost Game 3 by 29 points. The Aces answered three days later to win their first championship.
They head to what’s expected to be a raucous Barclays Center that has been a difficult environment for teams to play in. They’re also getting a Liberty team that will play with desperation with their season on the line.
The Aces are walking into a storm of their own. But they’re one win away from escaping it with another title.
“It was a great performance, and I hope the girls enjoy it tonight,” Hammon said. “That being said, my job is to keep us on the straight and narrow with the understanding we got thumped in their building twice. We’re going to come in with the appropriate respect, the appropriate focus and emotion for the moment.”
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
