The New York Liberty defeated the Las Vegas Aces 87-73 in game-3 of the WNBA finals at Barclays Center on Sunday, Oct. 15.
Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart blocked a combined 7 shots and played tough defense all over the floor to hold the visiting team to 33.3% shooting and 31.8% from the 3-point line for the game as the home team avoided elimination and a series sweep to force a pivotal game four at home.
Jones led all Liberty scorers with 27 points, and Stewart added 20 points and 12 rebounds to help the Liberty grab their first finals win since Teresa Witherspoon hit her iconic game-winning halfcourt shot against the Houston Comets in 1999 at Madison Square Garden. The Liberty’s victory also marked their first finals win at Barclays Center in franchise history.
The Liberty was greeted by a raucous crowd hungry for a victory, and they did not disappoint. They grabbed an early lead and only trailed for a single possession in the entire game when the score was 7-8 at the 6:20 mark of the first quarter. Jones scored 8 points in the first quarter, while Ionescu contributed 6 points and 4 assists to give the Liberty a 21-18 lead after the opening frame.
The NY Liberty has faced Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Suns and A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces in the 2023 WNBA playoffs — the two Most Valuable Player runner-ups who lost the award to the Liberty’s Stewart — and both played with a chip on their shoulders to prove that they were deserving of the award.
Great players become legendary in the finals, yet Stewart has not played like an MVP and has not looked like the player who scored 40 points in four games this season, as her finals scoring average of 18.3 is nearly five points below her season average of 23.0. The Liberty are lucky that the former league MVP Jones (2021) has been stellar against the Aces so far.
But, Jones said she was “angry and embarrassed in game two,” when the Liberty lost by 28 points.
The third quarter has not been kind to the NY Liberty in the WNBA finals so far, but that changed on Sunday evening.
During the third quarter of the first two finals games, the Liberty shot 34% from the field and played matador defense against the Aces. But, the Liberty shot 46.7% from the field and held Las Vegas to 10 points in the third quarter on Sunday, after the Aces averaged 27 points in the third at Michelob Ultra Arena.
In the fourth quarter, players found their rhythm. Kayla Thorton scored 6 points and Stewart also added 6 points, going 2-2 from the field and 2-2 from the free throw line. In one sequence, Jones snatched the ball off the glass, dribbled up court, and drove to the hoop, dropped a spin move in the paint, and dished a dime to Betnijah Laney, who scored an easy layup.
The home team shot 64.3% from the field and 50% from deep and went on a 17-6 run in the fourth to seal the game.
Game four of the finals series is on Wednesday, Oct. 18. The NY Liberty looks to even the series 2-2 and force a game five back in Las Vegas.
