Breanna Stewart scored 34 points, Jonquel Jones recorded a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds and the New York Liberty never trailed in their 87-77 Game 1 win over the visiting Las Vegas Aces on Sunday in the WNBA semifinals.
New York opened its 2023 WNBA Finals rematch with the two-time reigning champion Aces with an early, 10-2 scoring run that set the tone for the game. The Aces briefly cut the Liberty lead to two points midway through the second quarter, but spent much of the afternoon at a deficit of eight to 18 points.
The win marked New York’s fourth in a row over the defending champions, including a three-game sweep of the regular-season series. Game 2 of the five-game playoff series is set for Tuesday in New York.
The Liberty trio of Stewart, Jones and Sabrina Ionescu combined to score all but 19 of the team’s points. Ionescu finished with 21 points to go with her five assists, four rebounds and two steals.
“It’s helped all season, just being able to get into the paint whether it’s finishing, driving [and] looking to kick, whether it’s dumping to the bigs or just looking to find my shooters,” Ionescu said. “But any time you’re able to get into the paint, it collapses the defense. That’s something I’ve tried to do all season, but [will look to continue to do] especially in this series.”
The three also went a combined 6-of-12 from 3-point range, accounting for most of New York’s 8-of-19 shooting from beyond the arc. Leonie Fiebich added the other two made triples on four attempts for all six of her points.
Las Vegas, meanwhile, shot 7-of-25 from long range. Kelsey Plum, who scored a team-high 24 points, went 4-of-8 while the rest of the Aces were 3-of-17 from deep.
New York was able to get to the free-throw line more effectively, as well, capitalizing on 19 makes in 23 attempts. Las Vegas was 12-of-15 at the charity stripe.
New York also pressured WNBA Most Valuable Player A’ja Wilson, making her work for her 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Six of Wilson’s points came in the final 3:46 with Las Vegas facing a double-digit deficit.
“The whole [New York defense] is pretty much committed to taking away A’ja,” Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said. “She had two, three people on her all night, so we’ve got to do a better job of getting her in space. But also, giving her outlets [to pass to], and that’s just about playing the right away.”
Jackie Young joined Wilson and Plum in double figures with 17 points. Alysha Clark added nine points off the bench, but no other Las Vegas scorer notched more than four points.
