Las Vegas Aces win second straight WNBA title with Game 4 triumph over New York Liberty

NEW YORK — Despite missing two stalwart players because of injuries, the Las Vegas Aces used a stunning second-half comeback to silence the New York Liberty and prevail, 70-69, clinching their second straight WNBA title with a 3-1 series win.

Las Vegas was without star point guard Chelsea Gray and forward Kiah Stokes, both of whom had foot injuries. Gray’s was suffered in scary-looking fashion at the end of Game 3, and the Aces haven’t said anything more about the diagnosis. Alysha Clark and Cayla George started in their places, and, as coach Becky Hammon promised after Game 3, point duties were rotated among multiple players.

The Aces’ predicament grew worse when A’ja Wilson was whistled for her second foul with 1 minute, 16 seconds to go in the first quarter. At the quarter buzzer, New York led, 23-13, including two big threes from Courtney Vandersloot — at times a reluctant perimeter shooter.

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For all the star power these two superteams have, they care as much about defense as offense, especially at this time of year. Gray and Stokes’ absences heightened that concern for the Aces, and Hammon spent much of the time since Sunday’s loss scheming up how to replace them.

“We’re going to be throwing the kitchen sink at ‘em, see what sticks,” she said before Game 4 tipped off. “We’re doing some stuff we’ve never done.”

Guard Kierstan Bell called it “a defense that I’ve never seen in my life,” but unsurprisingly stayed away from letting any details out.

Liberty star Breanna Stewart talked before the game about trying to anticipate what Las Vegas might do, noting “they’re changing their defenses constantly between a triangle-and-two, or a box-and-one, or a two-three [zone], or a three-two.”

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The complexities at hand were another measure of the WNBA’s high quality, especially with two teams that invest a lot in their coaching staffs and training facilities.

If it felt like Stewart mentioned just about everything but John Chaney’s old matchup zone, one could play a little game of degrees of separation to get there, too. A’ja Wilson was coached at South Carolina by Dawn Staley, who was as close to Chaney as anyone and knew when to work a little old-school magic on the clipboard.

It was 31-30 New York with 2:33 to go in the second quarter. Then the Liberty ran off the half’s last eight points, punctuated by Vandersloot’s third three of the night, and the crowd was loving it.

But the game and atmosphere flipped completely late in the third quarter. A few bad Liberty shot and pass choices sparked the Aces back to life, they scored the frame’s last nine points, and held a 53-51 lead at the horn.

All of a sudden, the arena was near-silent, save for the pockets of Aces fans who’d traveled across the country to see if their team could win the title on the road.

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Las Vegas opened the fourth quarter with a 7-2 run. Slowly, the Liberty climbed back to tie things, 62-62, with just under five minutes to go, and 64-64 with 2:44 left. They never regained the lead, though.

Jackie Young’s sixth made field goal of the game put Las Vegas back ahead right away, and it was 70-64 when Liberty coach Sandy Brondello called time again with 1:26 left.

Amazingly, New York charged back one more time, drawing within 70-69 with 41.1 seconds left and forcing a stop at the other end. But after regaining possession with 8.8 to go, they could not get the one more basket they needed. Vandersloot had the last look, airballing an open three from a corner right before the buzzer.

Wilson was the star of the box score with 24 points and 16 rebounds, and capped off her night with the Finals MVP trophy. Young added 16 points and seven assists. Vandersloot led New York with 19 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, while Stewart shot just 3-of-17 from the field and Jonquel Jones was 3-of-8.

Really, though, the Aces won this game, and this title, as a team — and with exceptional tenacity, not just star power. For all they’ve done on and off the court, they’re undoubtedly deserving of being the WNBA’s first back-to-back champions in 21 years.

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