WNBA playoffs 2024: Liberty, Aces to meet in semifinals
The New York Liberty |A|
and Las Vegas Aces |B|
will meet again in |C|
the WNBA playoffs. Only |D|
this time, it's in |E|
the semifinals, 11 months |F|
after the Aces beat |G|
the Liberty in the |H|
WNBA Finals. Top-seeded New York |J|
hosts No. 4 seed |K|
and two-time defending champion |L|
Las Vegas in a |M|
best-of-five series starting Sunday. |O|
Both teams advanced after |P|
sweeping their first-round opponents |Q|
Tuesday. The Aces struggled just |R|
enough for parts of |S|
the regular season to |U|
end up as the |V|
fourth seed. But it |Y|
makes for a blockbuster |Z|
series featuring the past |A|
two MVPs: Las Vegas' |B|
A'ja Wilson and New |C|
York's Breanna Stewart. The Aces |D|
hit their low point |E|
after a 90-82 loss |F|
to New York on |G|
June 15 in Las |H|
Vegas; they were 6-6 |J|
at that point. Wilson |K|
vowed in the postgame |L|
news conference that things |M|
would get better. While |O|
there were still some |P|
ups and downs, the |Q|
Aces have looked like |R|
themselves in recent weeks. |S|
They finished the regular |U|
season winning nine of |V|
their past 10 games, |Y|
and then swept the |Z|
fifth-seeded Seattle Storm 2-0 |A|
in the first round. New |B|
York has the league's |C|
best regular-season record (32-8) |D|
and defeated the No. |E|
8 seed Atlanta Dream |F|
2-0. The Liberty also |G|
swept the regular-season series |H|
with the Aces 3-0. Wilson |J|
and Stewart were teammates |K|
and the top players |L|
for Team USA, which |M|
won its seventh consecutive |O|
Olympic gold medal at |P|
the Paris Games. Stewart, |Q|
30, and Wilson, 28, |R|
have five MVP awards |S|
between them and each |U|
have two WNBA titles. Stewart |V|
won her championships with |Y|
Seattle in 2018 and |Z|
2020, and came as |A|
a free agent to |B|
New York last season. |C|
The narrative of 2023 |D|
was Las Vegas and |E|
New York as "superteams," |F|
and they lived up |G|
to it with a |H|
Finals matchup that the |J|
Aces won 3-1. Now, we |K|
will see which one |L|
makes it to the |M|
2024 Finals. ESPN takes |O|
a look at the |P|
upcoming high-wattage series Voepel: Yes, |U|
because the Aces are |V|
now playing more like |Y|
the Aces who won |Z|
the past two titles, |A|
not the team that |B|
lost 13 regular-season games. |C|
As Las Vegas coach |D|
Becky Hammon said just |E|
before the first round |F|
when asked about taking |G|
the temperature of her |H|
team: "I think the |J|
temperature is rising." Hammon pointed |K|
to the Aces' 93-90 |L|
loss at the Dallas |M|
Wings on Aug. 27 |O|
as particularly galling; Las |P|
Vegas gave up 32 |Q|
points in the fourth |R|
quarter. "I just kind of |S|
went crazy," Hammon said |U|
of going off on |V|
her team's defense after |Y|
the loss. The Aces responded, |Z|
and it marked a |A|
turning point. They've lost |B|
just once since: 75-71 |C|
on Sept. 8 at |D|
New York, when Wilson |E|
missed the game with |F|
an ankle injury. The Aces |G|
can look at their |H|
losses to the Liberty |J|
this way: Point guard |K|
Chelsea Gray was still |L|
out for the first |M|
one (she returned June |O|
19) and Wilson missed |P|
the third. In the |Q|
Aces' 79-67 loss to |R|
the Liberty on Aug. |S|
17, guard Jackie Young |U|
played but was a |V|
shadow of herself, dealing |Y|
with illness and shooting |Z|
1-for-8 from the field |A|
for 4 points. None of |B|
this is meant to |C|
diminish the Liberty's victories |D|
or make excuses for |E|
Las Vegas. But the |F|
Aces are a better, |G|
more complete team now |H|
than they were for |J|
any of those games. Creme: In a series |Q|
loaded with stars and |R|
intriguing individual matchups, the |S|
Young-Sabrina Ionescu battle might |U|
be the one that |V|
most shifts the outcome. |Y|
But it's notable that |Z|
Young didn't play to |A|
her level in any |B|
of the three regular-season |C|
meetings with New York. |D|
She averaged 8.7 points |E|
on 32.3% shooting against |F|
the Liberty (she averaged |G|
15.8 PPG and shot |H|
43% on the season). |J|
Even with the Aces |K|
now whole, with their |L|
Big Four all active |M|
and healthy, it's essential |O|
that Young perform better |P|
against New York. And not |Q|
just offensively. Young will |R|
likely be matched up |S|
against Ionescu on defense |U|
in the semifinals. Given |V|
how great Ionescu was |Y|
in the series clincher |Z|
against Atlanta -- 36 |A|
points and 9 assists |B|
-- the Aces will |C|
need Young's best at |D|
the defensive end of |E|
the floor as well. Until |F|
Tuesday, Ionescu had been |G|
struggling. In the three |H|
games prior, including the |J|
playoff opener, she was |K|
a combined 9-of-35 from |L|
the field and totaled |M|
21 points. But she |O|
changed her momentum Tuesday. Young |P|
was solid at the |Q|
end of the regular |R|
season as Las Vegas |S|
made a run at |U|
the No. 3 seed. |V|
However, she was quiet |Y|
Tuesday -- 3-for-10 from |Z|
the field for 9 |A|
points, though she also |B|
added 9 rebounds and |C|
5 assists -- as |D|
Wilson (24 points, 13 |E|
rebounds), Kelsey Plum (29 |F|
points, 11-of-15 from the |G|
field) and Gray (12 |H|
points, 9 assists) had |J|
big nights. To beat |K|
the 2024 version of |L|
the Liberty, Las Vegas |M|
needs all four scoring. Voepel: Last |Q|
season, Stewart won a |R|
tightly contested three-way race |S|
for MVP, with Wilson |U|
third. But Wilson was |V|
the dominant winner of |Y|
WNBA Finals MVP; she |Z|
averaged 23.8 points, 11.8 |A|
rebounds and 2.3 blocks |B|
in the Aces' nine |C|
playoff games. Stewart didn't fully |D|
look like herself in |E|
the playoffs last season. |F|
She still averaged 18.4 |G|
points and 10.2 rebounds |H|
in the Liberty's 10 |J|
playoff games, but she |K|
shot just 35.8% from |L|
the field and 19.6% |M|
from behind the arc. Hammon |O|
said Tuesday after the |P|
Aces' Game 2 victory |Q|
over Seattle that she |R|
thought the Liberty had |S|
been playing with an |U|
edge all this season |V|
after the disappointment of |Y|
losing the Finals last |Z|
year. For Stewart in |A|
particular, this postseason might |B|
feel particularly big because, |C|
let's face it, she |D|
left Seattle to win |E|
a championship in her |F|
home state. She wants |G|
that badly. By the same |H|
token, Wilson's fire has |J|
been blazing all this |K|
season because she wanted |L|
to prove without a |M|
doubt she was the |O|
MVP. So we've got |P|
two superstars who are |Q|
very motivated. And it's |R|
not that there aren't |S|
a lot of important |U|
moving parts around them |V|
(most notably another former |Y|
MVP in Liberty forward |Z|
Jonquel Jones). But it feels |A|
like a lot of |B|
this series might still |C|
come down to whomever |D|
can impose her will |E|
the most between Wilson |F|
and Stewart.Can the |Q|
Aces reverse how dominant |R|
the Liberty were in |S|
their regular-season meetings?
Both |K|
teams had several players |L|
step up in the |M|
first round. What's the |O|
key matchup in this |P|
series?
What |O|
can we expect from |P|
another Wilson-Stewart showdown?
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