Frank Franklin II / AP
Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson and Mark Davis celebrate with teammates next to the trophy after Game 4 of the WNBA Finals against the New York Liberty Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, in New York. The Aces won 70-69.
Published Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023 | 7:20 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023 | 9:08 p.m.
NEW YORK — Somehow. Someway. The Las Vegas Aces did it.
Despite being down two starters, the Aces rallied in the second half, then hung on for a 70-69 win over the New York Liberty to win their second consecutive WNBA championship in Game 4 at Barclays Center on Wednesday.
A'ja Wilson finished with 24 points and 16 rebounds, and Jackie Young scored nine of her 16 points in the fourth quarter as the Aces become the first team since the 2001-02 Los Angeles Sparks to win back-to-back titles.
Wilson, the two-time league MVP, was named Finals MVP for the first time in her career.
"We fought through so much adversity throughout the season," Wilson said postgame on ESPN. "I can't express just how proud I am of my teammates. They picked me up when I was down. We cried together, and now we're popping champagne together."
This is going to go down as one of the greatest coaching displays of Becky Hammon's career. The Aces were down point guard Chelsea Gray and center Kiah Stokes in a sold-out Barclays Center. She started Cayla George, who hadn't started a WNBA game since August 2018, to provide spacing and playmaking from the post spot.
George, in place of Stokes, finished with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes.
"They're professionals," Wilson said. "I know a lot of people see us for the laughs, and we have a good time, but they're professional basketball players at the end of the day, and they were ready when their name was called."
Alysha Clark, the Sixth Player of the Year, moved into the starting lineup and finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.
“We’ve been facing adversity all season, playing without different players. ... We have some professional fighters,” Clark said. “To weather the storm of everything we went through, to show up every single day. To be in this moment right now and do it together, it speaks volumes about us, our chemistry.”
The Aces were the best defensive team in the regular season and had to rely on that side to keep them within striking range. The Liberty shot 33.9% from the floor through three quarters and the Aces outscored them 23-12 in the third.
More importantly, the Aces took a 53-51 lead into the final quarter. Leading the way, as she has done many times before, was Wilson with 18 points and 14 rebounds through 30 minutes.
The Aces maintained momentum through the first two minutes of the fourth quarter with Young scoring five of their first seven points to push the lead to 60-53. New York answered following back-to-back 3-point misses from Plum, with Sabrina Ionescu hitting a three with 6:34 left, cutting the Aces' lead to 60-58.
The Liberty had one more chance to win the game and force a Game 5 back in Las Vegas on Friday, but point guard Courtney Vandersloot's shot from the corner missed the rim.
The Aces held the Liberty to 36.1% shooting and just 9 of 27 from 3-point range. The defense, led by their Defensive Player of the Year of Wilson, rose to the occasion at its best. After the first quarter, the Aces surrendered just 23 points in the final three quarters.
"I know who I have in my locker room," Hammon said. "There's not a person here I don't believe in. Win or lose, I'm rolling with them all day."
Some of that confidence surely came from the most dominating season in league history. The Aces posted a 34-6 mark in the regular season to establish a league record for wins.
While Wilson got most of the accolades, and rightfully so, the roster had many standout players capable of helping the team win. That was highlighted in the last — and most memorable — game of the season.
“It’s not easy, as you know. This is what it's all about,” Wilson said. “Not a lot of people get to do it. To be short-handed and win is amazing. It makes the win that much better. It's hard to get back to the Finals to win again.”
That determination was paramount as the team overcame an early double digit deficit for the series-clinching win. There was no panic — just confidence they'd get the job done because they had done it so many times before.
That defense, after all, was one of the team's calling cards all season.
“I think they were throwing whatever defense they had at us and make sure it’s ugly,” said New York's Breanna Stewart, the league's MVP of the regular season. “Sometimes we lost our flow and ball movement.”
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
