A rematch of the 2023 WNBA Finals will decide one of the crucial members on this yr’s championship spherical, because the No. 1-seeded New York Liberty host the fourth-seeded Las Vegas Aces in Sport 1 in their best-of-five semifinal sequence on Sunday in Brooklyn.
Within the opening spherical of the playoffs, Las Vegas complicated previous Seattle in its quest to turn into the WNBA’s first three-peat champion for the reason that Houston Comets claimed the league’s first 4 championships from 1997 via 2000. This season’s unanimous MVP, A’ja Wilson, scored 24 issues and grabbed 13 rebounds in Tuesday’s series-clinching win over the Typhoon.
With Wilson on one finish and Breanna Stewart main New York at the different, a conflict of three- and two-time MVPs headlines this sequence. The duo has mixed to say the remaining 3 MVP awards, and 5 of the remaining seven.
Wilson garnered her 3rd MVP at the power of a league-leading 26.9 issues in keeping with recreation and 11.9 rebounds, second-most within the WNBA. Stewart, who completed 3rd in MVP balloting, averaged 20.4 issues, 8.5 rebounds and three.5 assists in keeping with recreation within the steady season whilst serving to New York to the league’s splendid report at 32-8.
The Liberty dispatched Atlanta within the first spherical in 83-69 and 91-82 wins remaining Sunday and Tuesday. Stewart had a modest 13-point, six-rebound efficiency within the decisive recreation, whilst Sabrina Ionescu went off for 36 issues and 9 assists to set the tempo.
The dynamic Ionescu may just end up pivotal on this sequence. Closing yr in opposition to Las Vegas within the Finals, the Aces held Ionescu to 39 overall issues in 4 video games. She had 11 assists in Sport 3 — New York’s most effective win within the best-of-five showdown — matching her overall from the opposite 3 video games mixed.
“Throw (the sport movie) out. I am not even gazing it,” Liberty trainer Sandy Brondello stated, in line with the New York Put up, about remaining yr’s Finals. “It does not imply the rest to me. That is this yr. We are a unique crew. We have now realized from our issues, however we all know it will be a difficult sequence.”
Wilson expressed the similar sentiment, in line with the Las Vegas Solar: “I believe like we are two utterly other groups. We are not the similar crew as remaining yr or two years prior to.”
The Aces will probably be a unique crew than the model that noticed the Liberty simply 3 weeks in the past. Wilson didn’t play in a 75-71 New York win on Sept. 8, which finished a 3-0 regular-season sweep of the two-time reigning champions..
Kelsey Plum scored 25 issues in that loss. Plum used to be integral to Las Vegas’ Finals win a yr in the past, posting no less than 23 issues in 3 of 4 contests. She’s coming off a 29-point effort within the Aces’ clinching win over Seattle after scoring simply two within the sequence opener.
–Box Stage Media
