By John “Woods” Armwood III
The New York Liberty advanced to the semifinals after defeating the Atlanta Dream, 91-82. Sunday evening, they will be facing the Las Vegas Aces at home. Due to their dominant regular season, the Liberty has been granted home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. This season, the Liberty have bested the Aces numerous times, however this is similar to last season.
“First of all, New York is a lot better than they were last year, just plain and simple,” Aces star guard Kelsey Plum told reporters on Tuesday after the Aces clinched their first-round playoff series against the Seattle Storm. “They’re bigger. They shoot the ball at a better clip. If you go down the line, pound for pound, individually, all of them are better basketball players.”
The Liberty had a disappointing ending last year and was left with a bad taste in their mouth. Yet, they’ve appeared to take this matchup personally and that overall season personally.
“We have to focus on what we do. Now, there’s adjustments and things you make throughout the series, for sure, but I think sometimes we can be our own worst enemy,” Plum continued. “I mean, listen, they kicked our butt all three times. … But to be honest, this is a new season [in the playoffs], and this is a fresh start. There’s no secret that they’ve taken care of business, and they’ve done what they needed to do, and that’s why they’re the [No.] 1 seed. And so it’s an uphill battle.”
The History between the Liberty and Aces
On Sept. 8th, the Liberty defeated the Aces in a thriller matchup, 75-71. Sabrina Ionescu led the Liberty offense with 23 points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal on August 17th while leading all scorers with 12 points in the first quarter against Las Vegas. he Liberty more than doubled Las Vegas’s total points in the paint, winning the points in the paint battle by a margin of 36-16.
The determining factor of this game will be dominating the rebounds and controlling the paint. Jonquel Jones tied for her best rebounding performance in a Liberty uniform with 10 points and 17 rebounds, while also setting her new Liberty high with seven offensive rebounds on August 17th. Jones tied her career high for rebounds in a single quarter with eight in the second period, and she added seven assists against Las Vegas to join Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker, and Alyssa Thomas as the only players to record at least 10 points, 17 rebounds, and seven assists in a single regular season game. Breanna Stewart recorded a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds while blocking Jackie Young’s potential game-winning layup attempt with 5.5 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter on September 8th.
“I just really feel like we have to win the battle of the boards every night until we earn it,” Aces head coach Becky Hammon told reporters on Tuesday. “Our defense is great. We have to reward ourselves with securing the ball. And once we secure the ball, we’re off to the races. That’s the other part: It gives us great pace when we can rebound the ball and get it pushed to the other end.”