New York Liberty advance to WNBA Finals

All season long, the Las Vegas Aces haven’t shied away from acknowledging the difficulties of three-peating. Following a rocky regular season and with a tough semifinal matchup against the top-seeded New York Liberty, the No. 4 Aces faced a greater uphill battle than ever as they tried to return to the mountaintop.

But Las Vegas finally ran out of gas Sunday, its quest for history falling short when it dropped Game 4 to the Liberty 76-62 and lost the best-of-five series 3-1.

New York, making its own push for history in hopes of a franchise-first title, will appear in the WNBA Finals for the sixth time and second straight. Its opponent will be determined Tuesday when Minnesota and Connecticut duke it out in the other semifinal in a winner-take-all Game 5 in Minneapolis.

The Liberty — who fell short of a championship last year at the hands of Las Vegas — beat the Aces in six of their seven matchups this year, including all three in the regular season.

“They’ve been the best team all year — let’s be real,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said after the game. “Their group earned it. They earned it all year.”

Yet two-time MVP Breanna Stewart stayed resolute: “We haven’t done anything yet,” said Stewart, who finished 19 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks. “This was a tough series, an emotional series, for a number of different reasons … [but there’s] just the feeling of not satisfied.”

Only once in the WNBA has there been a three-peat, when the Houston Comets dominated the early years of the sport from 1997 to 2000. This millennium, only the New York Yankees (1998-2000) and Los Angeles Lakers (2000-02) managed to do it in their respective leagues. No team has achieved the feat in that span in the NHL or NFL.

“Just doing it, it’s hard,” said A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas’ three-time MVP, on the three-peat quest. “Every team looks different. Your team looks different. Nothing’s the same. Everybody wants to beat you. You’re everybody’s Super Bowl. That’s hard to come into.”

“Every game of the series, things have been changing,” Ionescu said. “They lost two games allowing me to come off screens and pick them apart offensively. So I think this game you were able to see the adjustments they made — sending two or three to the ball at one time and not letting me get anything easy. There were usually three people in my face, no matter what.”

Aces coach Becky Hammon said she gave her team’s defense an A-plus, especially against Ionescu. The Liberty were held to 38.8% shooting from the field, compared with the Aces’ 52.1%.

“I just think we were proactive, just stirring it up and trying to make Sabrina uncomfortable,” Hammon said.

Entering Friday, the Aces had lost five in a row against the Liberty: three in the regular season and the first two games of this series in Brooklyn.

“The likelihood of us going 6-0 against them this year was slim,” Ionescu said. “It would have been really impressive; they’re back-to-back champions. We’re still up 2-1, and we’ve always come back from a loss really well.”

The Liberty, who went 32-8 in the regular season, knew where the Aces were coming from Friday. New York was in the same position last year when the teams met in the WNBA Finals. The Aces won the first two games at home, then the Liberty won Game 3 in New York.

“This is when teams are most dangerous, when their backs are against the wall and they’re going to throw everything at you,” said forward Breanna Stewart, who led New York with 19 points. “They came out and did what they were supposed to do tonight. Our conversations in the locker room afterward [were] we have to keep our heads up because Game 4 is coming very, very quickly.”

The teams will meet again at Michelob Ultra Arena on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, ABC).

The Liberty hope the pattern from last season’s playoff battle with the Aces stays the same: with the series ending in four games. That would send New York to its sixth attempt to win the WNBA championship.

The Aces, in contrast, hope they can continue what would be a historic rally from being down 2-0 in a series, something no WNBA team has done, and keep pursuing a three-peat.

League MVP A’ja Wilson had 19 points and 14 rebounds for Las Vegas. The Aces’ starting guard trio — Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young — combined for 54 points and 13 assists.

“Defensively, we were so locked in,” Gray said. “And offensively, when we’re able to get [that kind of defense] and then run our fast break and secondary options, it’s not even just about wide-open layups. They’re on their heels.”