One year later, the Liberty can return the favor.
One year later, they can send the Aces home.
On Friday night at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, the Liberty can end the Aces’ hopes of a third straight WNBA championship and return to the finals, looking to win the franchise’s first crown, after Las Vegas celebrated on their home floor a year ago.
After winning the first two games of this semifinal series at Barclays Center to take a commanding 2-0 lead, the Liberty have some margin for error.
But they would rather not have to stay in Sin City longer than they have to.
Why not end any hopes of a comeback before it begins?
“Being up 2-0 is great, but we haven’t won anything,” Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu said after the Game 2 victory. “Everyone knows that. Did what we were supposed to do, protect home court. Win two at home. We’re not patting ourselves on the back, talking how happy we are. We didn’t come to win two games at home and be satisfied. We’re a hungry group.”
The top-seeded Liberty entered the postseason as the favorite to win it all after going a league-best 32-8, and they have certainly looked the part.
They easily dispatched the Dream in the first round and took care of business at home against the Aces in the first two games of this series.
A year ago in the finals, the Liberty were 0-2 in Vegas, but this season, they swept the Aces during the regular season, winning twice in their building.
But the Aces are a strong home team, going 13-7 during the regular season at Michelob ULTRA Arena.
“We need to tighten up. We need to be better going into Game 3 because this is going to be the hardest one yet,” Breanna Stewart said Friday.
Sharing the floor with past MVPs Jonquel Jones and Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu has been the star of stars, averaging a team-high 24.5 points per game so far in these playoffs, along with six assists and a lights-out 42.4 percent shooting from 3-point range.
She scored 36 points in the clinching victory over the Dream, matching Cappie Pondexter’s franchise postseason record, and has been terrific against the Aces.
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She scored seven of the Liberty’s final nine points in the narrow Game 2 victory, including the go-ahead jumper with 1:15 remaining.
“[She’s] really kind of a motor with this team,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said before the series began. “Sabrina is the head of the snake.”
Ionescu wasn’t nearly this dominant of a presence in the playoffs a year ago.
That was particularly the case against the Aces, when she averaged just 9.7 points and shot 5-of-12 from the field in the clinching loss.
The first-overall pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft, the former Oregon star has emerged as one of the top guards in the league.
She has proven it so far in this series, getting the better of Aces star guard Kelsey Plum, who had a nightmarish Game 2, finishing with more turnovers (three) than made field goal attempts.
“In the big moments she steps up,” Jones said. “Doesn’t shy away from the moments.”
